Blood Legacy
by efficacious humorosity
Summary: DH spoiler alert!  The legacy continues in Albus Potter as he attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  Prophecies are made and battles are fought.  The war seems to have died with Voldemort, but the war and the legacy are both very much alive.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I don't own Harry Potter, even though I wish I did. This fic contains Deathly Hallows spoilers, so if you don't want me to ruin the book for you hit the back button NOW! Read and review! **

Chapter 1

"Good job getting into Gryffindor, Albus," James said, clapping his younger brother on the back.

"Thanks, James," Albus muttered, looking down at his plate forlornly.

"What's wrong?" James asked. He loved taking the mickey out of his younger brother, but that didn't stop him from being concerned about his happiness.

"No one's talked to me," he mumbled.

"Don't worry," he said, putting a reassuring hand on his brother's shoulder, "look now, those two are coming over here. I'll see you around."

Albus turned his head and, sure enough, a boy and girl were heading over towards him. "Is anyone sitting there?" the girl asked, pointing to the space to Albus' right.

"No," he said, shaking his head. She sat down, smiling and her companion took a seat next to her.

"I'm Verity Pierce, by the way," she said. She had straight auburn hair and piercing light blue eyes. "This is my twin brother Dennis."

"Hey," Dennis said. He had the same auburn colored hair, but it was messy and unruly, unlike his sister's. He had the same eyes as well.

"I'm Albus Potter," Albus said.

"Oh, your father is Harry Potter, is he?" Verity said interestedly.

"Yeah," he said.

"We read about him in a book Verity picked up in Diagon Alley," Dennis said. "We're Muggle-born." Dennis looked down at his shoes, embarrassed, and then hastily grabbed a few chicken wings and started stuffing his face.

"Why do you look so down about it? I don't care if you're Muggle-born, half-blood, pureblood, or part troll," Albus said. "Besides, my grandfather will love you two; he's obsessed with Muggles and their contraptions."

"I told you we had nothing to worry about, Dennis," Verity said, rolling her eyes at her brother.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he mumbled. The three eleven year olds immersed themselves in chatter while they ate, quickly acclimating to each other. Verity and Dennis' mom was a surgeon while their dad was an engineer.

Suddenly, Headmistress McGonagall cleared her throat, silencing them. Albus started to feel rather drowsy as she gave her welcoming speech, but he kept himself entertained with thoughts of his newfound friends. He couldn't wait to write to his parents…

Following a tall prefect through the portrait hole, Dennis, Verity, and Albus chatted nervously about the following day of classes. "I don't know about this anymore," Verity said, biting her lip nervously.

"Because you're Muggle-born?" Albus asked. Verity nodded. "Don't worry, you'll probably be brilliant. My aunt is a Muggle-born and she was the best in her year!"

"Thanks, Albus," Verity said, hugging him tightly. "You're the best." He felt a strange swooping sensation in his stomach as she did so, but he ignored.

"You better get to sleep," Dennis said, yawning as he did so.

"Please, you're the one who couldn't stay awake during McGonagall's speech," Verity said. "Good night." She hugged Albus again, then hugged her brother before trotting up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

"Shall we go up?" Dennis said, gesturing towards the stairs that led to the boys' dormitory. Albus nodded. He and Dennis were in the same room as Kyle Thompson, Scott Creevy, and Tyler Brown. Albus and Dennis chose beds next to each other.

"Well, good night all. I think I've had one too many treacle tarts," Dennis said and promptly fell deep asleep.

Albus, on the other hand, was too excited to sleep. He grabbed the two-way mirror his aunt had made for him and his parents and looked into it. He was pleased to see his father's face peering back at him. "Albus," Harry said happily, "how is it?"

"It's great, Dad," he replied enthusiastically. "I love it here already."

"You made any friends?" Harry asked his son hopefully.

"Yes," Albus replied eagerly. "Verity and Dennis Pierce. They're Muggle-borns."

"That's great, Al!" his father said, pleased with how much his son was enjoying Hogwarts. "Will you be inviting them home for Christmas break or is the jury still deliberating?" Albus grinned at his father's comment; Harry knew his son loved studying American Muggle law, for some odd reason.

"I definitely will be," he replied confidently. "Dennis is in my dorm. The other boys are Kyle Thompson, Scott Creevy, and Tyler Brown."

"Kyle'll be Dean's son," Harry muttered to himself. "And Scott's Dennis' kid. I've never heard of any wizard with the last name Brown, though. Well, I know a Lavender Brown, but if she was married…"

"Come to think of it, I think Tyler said his mom left his dad when he was little and she stopped using his last name," Al offered.

"Well, I'll get in touch with Lavender and see. You better go to sleep, son. It's getting late and you really don't want to be late for your first day of classes," Harry said, suddenly fatherly.

"Can I talk to Mum quickly first?" he asked.

"Course. I'll get her," Harry said. "Gin! Al's on the mirror!" Al grinned with delight as his mother's face came into view.

"How are you, Al?" Ginny asked.

"I'm great, Mum. I'm just tired and I just wanted to say hi before I turned in. Is it all right if Dad fills you in on my first night?" Albus asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"I suppose," Ginny said, grinning at her. "Good night, Albus."

"Good night, Mum," he said. With that, he stored the mirror safely in his trunk. He crawled into his four-poster bed and happily fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Still don't own Harry… just the characters of my own creation. Read and review!**

Chapter 2

Albus mucked about with his hair as he stared out at the scenery flying by from a window in the Hogwarts Express. "Will you quit it, Al?" Verity asked.

"Sorry," Al blushed. As he watched the twins playing Exploding Snap and betting about who could perform a better Bat Bogey Hex, he thought of when he had first met the pair of them and how far they had come. They were now entering their fourth year at Hogwarts and Dennis and Verity were easily two of the best in their year. Whenever the topic came up in conversation, the twins always insisted Albus was definitely serious competition for them, but he always humbly disagreed. Over the past few years, Albus had come to realize that Verity was more than a friend to him. However, he had put off informing Dennis of this matter, fearing Dennis in protective brother mode. Suddenly, Al said, "Do you remember when that prat Tyson lied and said he was dating Verity last year?"

"How could I forget?" Verity laughed. "Dennis knocked his lights out the Muggle way and got two weeks' worth of detention for it."

"No one," Dennis said fiercely, "messes with my sister."

"I think we got that," Al laughed. Verity grinned at him, her blue eyes twinkling in a way that made his heart speed up. "By the way, my parents keep asking about you two. Can you come for Christmas?"

"Of course we're coming for Christmas," Dennis said. "I wouldn't miss your grandmother's cooking for the world."

"Besides, I wouldn't pass up the chance to spend my favorite holiday with my best friend," Verity said, putting an arm around Albus. His stomach swooped.

"What about me?" Dennis yelped.

"You?" Verity asked. "You're my brother. I live with you. But of course I love you, Dennis."

Rose Weasley chose that moment to enter the compartment. "Hello," she said. "I hope you all had a good holiday."

"Rose, you were with me practically the whole time," Al said, chuckling.

"I believe I was speaking to Verity and Dennis," she said dryly.

"It was fun. We went to Greece with our parents, but it'd would've been loads more fun with you two along," Dennis replied.

"I was telling them how my parents can't stop asking about them," Al said.

"Mine can't stop either. Perhaps my mum and dad and Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny should form a 'Pierce Twins Fan Club'," Rose laughed.

"Stop it," Verity said, blushing. "You're making me blush."

"Obviously," Al and Dennis laughed.

"Oh, I just remembered why I came here," Rose said, "change into your robes, we're almost there." Then she left.

"It's kind of sad," Albus said, "I spend the whole of my summers with her, but she doesn't really hang out with us much at school."

"Don't worry about it, Al," Verity said. "She just has other friends. Your mum didn't really hang out much with your dad and his friends while they were at school, did she?"

"Well, no… but it's not like I'm trying to woo Rose, she's my cousin," Albus said, gagging at the thought.

"She," Dennis said, barely suppressing his laughter, "didn't say that. You did, mate." The three of them roared with laughter, until the trolley came by.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" she elderly lady asked.

"Yeah, a Pumpkin Pasty please," Verity said, looking for her coin purse. "Rubbish, I left it in my trunk."

"That's okay, I got it, Ver," Albus said. He paid for it and handed it to her.

"Thanks, Al. I'll pay you back tonight in the common room," she said.

"That's okay, you don't have to," he insisted.

"Thanks again, Al. That's really sweet," she said, smiling at him.

That night they sat at the Gryffindor table, thoroughly enjoying the feast set before them. Albus couldn't help noticing (of course) that Verity wore a strange expression on her face throughout the whole meal. "What's wrong, Ver?" he asked.

"I… don't know," she admitted. Dennis surfaced from his mountain of mashed potatoes. "Something just doesn't feel right."

"Ah, shit," Dennis mumbled.

"What?" Albus asked.

"Ver's always right when she senses something's up," Den explained. "Last time she felt like something wasn't right, I ended up with half a head of hair.

"It's true," Verity said in response to Al's doubtful look. She looked up at the High Table. "Hey," she said suddenly, "who's the new teacher?"

"Dunno," Dennis said through a mouthful of potatoes. There was a new professor sitting to McGonagall's right. She had jet black hair and stormy gray eyes. Albus followed Ver's gaze. As Al stared up at the newcomer, his green eyes met her gray ones and he felt a sharp, stabbing pain run through his body.

"Ah," he gasped, squinting his eyes in agony.

"What's wrong, Albus?" Verity asked, looking at him, concerned.

"It's nothing," he said. "That was weird…" He went on to explain what had just happened to his two best friends.

"Well, I don't know what's going on any more than you do," Verity said, "but this feels weirder and weirder with every passing minute."

McGonagall cleared her throat, signaling the beginning of her welcoming speech. "To all our new students, welcome. To everyone else, welcome back! We've missed you very much over the holidays and we look forward to teaching you once more this coming year. Due to his long overdue retirement, Professor Slughorn has been replaced with a new, but equally skilled, Potions master. Please welcome Professor Drasen." The professor with the gray eyes stood and nodded curtly at the polite applause.

"She's replacing Slughorn?" Ver whispered. "Damn."

"You're just upset because Slughorn was practically in love with you," Albus whispered back.

"Shut it," Verity sniped. "You know I hated being in the Slug Club as much as you and Dennis did. But at least he didn't give me a creepy feeling like Drasen does."

Drasen resumed her seat and somehow, her eyes found Verity. Blue eyes locked onto gray. Ver held her gaze for a few seconds, before collapsing unexpectedly onto the floor.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I still don't own Harry Potter. Thanks to all those who reviewed, and in Chapter 1, it should be Thomas, not Thompson. It was a typo, sorry! Read and review! **

Chapter 3

Verity woke to the sound of a familiar voice calling her name. "Ver…? Verity!" It was Albus. Her blue eyes fluttered open. "Verity," Al said, seeming more relaxed. Sun was pouring through the windows, blinding her. Dennis and Albus were standing on either side of her bed, looking worried.

"What happened?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. She was in the hospital wing in the only occupied bed.

"Well, you looked like you were having a staring contest with Professor Drasen, and then you passed out cold on the floor," Al said. They both looked at her, concerned.

"I feel fine now. I remember holding her gaze… then blackness," Ver said. She shrugged. "Don't look so worried, you two. Were you here all night?"

"Yeah," Dennis said. "I slept like a baby in the next bed over, though."

"Speak for yourself," Al said. Verity took another look at his handsome face and realized he did look really tired.

"You couldn't sleep?" she asked.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I was too worried."

"Thanks for your concern, but you don't have to lose sleep over me," she grinned at him. "Shouldn't you two be in class?"

"McGonagall let us out of class so we could stay by your bed," Al replied.

"McGonagall loves you, Al," Verity said. "I wouldn't be surprised if she popped the question sometime soon." Dennis chuckled.

"She does not! She gave me detention with you two last year, remember?" he said.

"Oh, yeah. But she still loves you," Dennis said.

"When is Madam Humphrey going to discharge me?" she asked.

"As soon as you wake up she said. I'll go get her," Dennis said, walking away.

"You really lost sleep over me?" Verity asked.

"Yeah," Al admitted, blushing.

"That's sweet, Al," she said, making him blush more. "It's nice to know you care about me that much."

"You're my best friend," he said simply. She looked up at him at the same moment he looked down at her, and green eyes met blue. A small shock passed through Verity. It wasn't painful, but it simply made her wonder…

Suddenly, Madam Humphrey bustled over with Dennis, interrupting their moment. Albus looked hastily away from her as the portly witch looked her over. "You seem to be all right, Ms. Pierce. Just be careful and don't overexert yourself," she said.

"Thank you, Madam Humphrey," Ver said, getting up. "What time is it?"

"It's just about lunch time. We might as well head towards the Great Hall," Al said.

"Sounds good. Let's go," Dennis said.

That night, Dennis and Albus were alone in the Gryffindor common room, still doing their homework. Verity had finished earlier and retired early to her dormitory, on Madam Humphrey's orders. Dennis and Al, on the other hand, had procrastinated throughout the earlier part of the evening and were now slaving over a Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. Feeling that he had put it off long enough, Al said, "Dennis?"

"Yeah, mate?" his friend replied, not looking up from his essay.

"There's something I've got to tell you," he said nervously.

"What is it?" Dennis asked, looking up at Al.

"Well, I don't know how to put this, but… I kind of… well, I, er, um…," he spluttered.

"Spit it out, mate," Dennis said.

"I sort of, er, fancy your sister," he said.

"Sort of?"

"Okay, I really fancy your sister," Albus rephrased. "Please don't hurt me."

"Why would I hurt you, Al?" he asked.

"Well, you pummeled that prat Tyson, and don't forget Frederick, and Derek and Norman…," Al said, listing just a few of the boys Dennis had dueled because of his sister.

"That's because they hurt her, Albus," he said. "There's nobody I'd rather have my sister go out with than you. I know you and I trust you."

"Really? Thanks, mate," Al said. A few more moments passed in silence. "So… do you know if Verity, er…"

"Fancies anyone?" Dennis asked. Albus nodded. "No, I don't. She usually tells me, but last I heard, she had just gotten over Derek. I'll let you know, though, Al."

"Thanks," he muttered, blushing. He resumed writing his essay. A thought struck him. "Did you know I fancied your sister?"

"Well, I think sort of knew all along, but I didn't really think about it too much. I mean, you paid for her Pumpkin Pasty on the train yesterday, you couldn't sleep when you were worried about her last night, and you blush practically every time she says your name, mate. And I'm thick with these things, at least Verity tells me so. You better clean up your act, mate, unless you want her to find our," Dennis advised him.

"How do I do that?" Al asked.

"Well, keep being sweet. But don't blush so much and try to act normal around her," he replied.

"Thanks again, mate. You're a lifesaver. I dunno what I'd do without you," Albus said gratefully.

"Don't worry about it. What are mates for, eh?"

The next morning, Verity woke and quickly got ready for the day. She scampered down to the common room, her stomach growling. She scanned the whole room, but Dennis and Albus weren't there. "Where the hell are they?" she mumbled under her breath. Sighing, she sat in a squishy chair by the fireplace and waited. After twenty minutes, they still weren't there and they were about to be late for breakfast. She quickly ran up the stairs to the boys' dormitory and burst through the door. She found her brother and best friend snoring loudly in their beds. Sighing, she pointed her wand at her brother and thought, _Levicorpus! _ He was suddenly lifted into the air upside down as if by an invisible hand. He woke with a jolt.

"Put me down, Verity!" he snarled. She lifted the spell.

"We're about to be late for breakfast! I've been waiting for the two of you lazy dolts for ages and I'm starving!" she snapped. "Get up!"

"Fine, but you wake up Al," Dennis said.

Deciding to be nice just this once, Verity walked over to Al's bed. Something wasn't right. He was tossing back and forth, sweating profusely. His facial expression was anything but calm. She shook him firmly. "Al? Albus?" she said. His green eyes fluttered open and he practically jumped out of his bed.

"Verity," he said, out of breath. "You nearly scared the pants off of me."

"What's wrong, Al? You looked like you were having a nightmare," she said, knitting her eyebrows together in concern.

"I was," he said darkly. "Drasen was in it. And she… she…"

"She what, Albus?" Verity pressed.

He turned his green eyes towards her, something he had not been able to do since he had woken up. "She killed you."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Busy not owning Harry Potter… and writing this fic! Thanks for all your reviews! Read and review! **

Chapter 4

"It's just a dream, Al," Dennis said, spooning oatmeal into his mouth at the Gryffindor table. On the way to the Great Hall, Al had related his dream to the twins in detail. "I wouldn't worry about it if I were you."

"I don't know…," Verity said, chewing on her biscuit thoughtfully. "But I know who probably would."

"Who?" Albus asked eagerly.

"Have you ever talked to your dad about his years at Hogwarts, when he was fighting Voldemort?" Ver asked.

"No, he doesn't really like to talk about it all," he replied.

"Well, I think you should ask him. I mean, I don't think this has anything to do with Voldemort, because your dad defeated him, but I mean… he's got experience with Dark stuff, you know?" she said.

"Yeah, that's a really good idea, Ver. What would I do without you?" Albus said.

"Fail History of Magic, probably," she replied, grinning broadly at him.

That night in the quiet safety of the otherwise empty boys' dormitory, Albus, Verity, and Dennis crowded around the two-way mirror. "Dad?" Al said. His father's face appeared in the mirror.

"Al! How's your fourth year going so far?" Harry said.

"Great," Albus said, crossing his fingers behind the mirror.

"Verity! Dennis! How are my favorite Pierces?" he said happily.

"Mr. Potter, we're the only Pierces you know," Verity said, giggling.

"Not the point," Harry said, brushing it off. "What do I have to thank for this pleasant visit form the three of you? Did you finally manage to convince Al here to talk to his own father more often?"

"Actually, Mr. Potter, we called to ask your advice," Dennis said.

"Oh really?" Harry said, his green eyes widening in surprise. Ver kept looking back and forth from Al to the mirror, amused by the remarkable resemblance between the two.

"Dad," Al said. "There's a new professor, Professor Drasen. She's the Potions master. Ver has a bad feeling about her, and according to Dennis, her feelings are pretty accurate. When our eyes met, something shocked me and it really hurt. When Ver and her locked eyes, they had a staring contest and Verity passed out. And last night, I had a dream… in it, Drasen kidnapped Dennis and Verity to get to me and tortured them. Then she… she killed Ver, Dad." Harry's hand instantly went to his scar, but he knew it wouldn't sting like it had when Voldemort was alive. Voldemort was quite dead.

"What did you think I could help you with, son?" he asked quietly.

"It was actually my idea, Mr. Potter," Verity admitted. "You see, we were confused and we had no idea what to do, but I figured you, with all the experience you had fighting Voldemort and all, might know something that could help us. I'm sorry."

"That's okay, Verity, it's fine. It's just… something similar to what happened to Albus when he looked at Drasen happened to me once… but you don't have a scar. Where did it hurt, Al?" Harry said.

"Everywhere, Dad," Al replied.

"Hmmm," Harry said thoughtfully. "I've had dreams like that, too… I don't mean to sound paranoid, but from my experience, something's not right. As for what's wrong… I couldn't tell you that anymore than a troll could."

"So what do we do, Mr. Potter?" Dennis asked.

"Stick together. All of you. You three, Rose, James, Lily, and Hugo. Keep an eye on Lily and Hugo especially. And talk to Professor Longbottom. Listen, I've got to go. Your mum's done cooking dinner," Harry said. "Be careful."

"Thanks, Dad. We will. Give Mum my love," Al said. With that, he put the mirror away. He sighed. "Come on. We better go talk to James."

The three of them trotted down to the common room and found Al's older brother chatting up some seventh year girl. "James," Verity said, approaching him, "we need to talk to you."

"Can't you see I'm busy?" he asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

"It's important," Albus insisted.

"Fine. I'll talk to you later, Shannon," James said, following them over to a secluded corner. "This better be important, I was about to ask her out." Albus proceeded to tell him exactly what they had told Harry and what their dad had said as well.

"I reckon we better do what Dad tells us, Al," James said. "You know what else I reckon? We ought to talk to Scorpius. His dad was forced to be a Death Eater, he may know how Dark Magic like this works."

"I reckon you're right, James," Verity said. "We have our first Potions class with the Slytherins tomorrow; I'll talk to him."

"That's a good idea, because we all know you're his favorite Gryffindor," Dennis teased.

"Shut up," she snapped. "Just because Scorpius has fancied me since first year doesn't mean we can't be friends…" Dennis noticed Al's silence and strange facial expression, so he took Verity's advice and shut his mouth.

"How are things with the Pierce family?" James asked.

"Good. Mum and Dad are in Bermuda right now, vacationing without us," Dennis replied.

"You are coming to our place for Christmas, yeah?" James asked. "Mum and Dad'll probably be depressed if you don't. So will Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione."

"Course we're coming, James," Verity said. "Don't be ridiculous. I think my parents will actually let us take you up on that offer to spend the summer this year as well. We'll just have to go home for a fortnight, then we can come to your place via the Floo network."

"That'd be awesome! I mean, I'm around you two so much I feel like you're my friends, too," James said.

"Course we are, you dolt," Dennis scoffed. "What are you, thick?" The four of them roared with laughter.

"Oh, I just remembered that we have Herbology tomorrow as well," Al said. "That should be fun, our first class back with Professor Longbottom."

"He's my favorite Professor, personally," Verity said.

"Yeah, he loves all the Potters, Weasleys, and Pierces," James laughed.

"Damn, it's nearly eleven," Al gasped. "We better go to sleep now if we're going to be ready for Drasen tomorrow." As Verity parted from them, Albus couldn't help feeling a strange longing to follow her, to just talk to her and be with her. He suppressed this longing, however, and merely wondered how long he could keep this up.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I do not own Harry Potter, and don't say that I said I did because I don't. Thanks for all your reviews! Enjoy this next chapter! Read and review! **

Chapter 5

"This is not going to be an easy year for you." Drasen's shrill voice echoed in the dungeons and in the Gryffindors' and Slytherins' ears. Dennis rolled his eyes, and Verity shook her head. She was sitting in between Scorpius and Albus with Dennis on Al's other side. "I will push you to your limit and beyond. I don't care what it takes. Potions is a very valuable subject… I will not tolerate disobedience or mistakes!"

Verity pressed a hand to her ear, wondering how much more of Drasen's voice she could actually withstand. Drasen took a black sheet off of an ancient chalkboard, which had instructions on how to make a love potion written on it. "This," Drasen said, or rather, screeched, "will give me some idea as to how well you do in Potions. You have the remainder of this class. Begin."

Forty-five minutes later, Verity was nearly done with her potion. "Scorpius," she whispered.

"Yeah?" he grinned, whipping his head of blonde hair around to face her. She went on to tell him everything they had told James the previous night.

"So," she said when she was finished. "Do you think you could help us?"

"Yeah, of course," he whispered back. "I'll talk to my dad. Is that… okay? I know Mr. Potter and my dad didn't exactly get along."

"They're civil with each other now, don't worry about it," Ver whispered. "Just tell me what he says, okay? And keep a watchful eye on Drasen, will you? The more, the better." He nodded.

At the end of the class, Drasen walked by each student's cauldron, examining their love potion. As she stopped by Scorpius', she gasped. "This," she shrilled, "is perfect!" She uncorked a flask and took some from his cauldron in her left arm. She lifted it into the air, as if to appraise it. Her left sleeve fell back, and Albus glimpsed something on her arm… but before he could identify it, she hastily put her arm down and covered it. "Class dismissed."

"I'm telling you, I saw something on her arm," Albus was hissing at Dennis.

"I dunno, mate. I think you're just being paranoid. I didn't see anything," Dennis said.

"You also 'didn't see' that Bludger coming at you in the championship game last year but that doesn't mean it wasn't there," Verity sniped. "And as with the Bludger, I saw it, too. So did Scorpius."

"See, mate? I'm not going mental," Al said. "It was there, I saw it… but what was it? Damn it, why has my dad never told me about this stuff?" In his distraction, he accidentally lit the plant in front of him on fire.

"Al!" Verity said. "_Aguamenti!_" A jet of water shot from the tip of her wand, putting out the fire. The damage, however, was done. The plant was now blackened.

"Something wrong, Mr. Potter?" Professor Longbottom asked.

"No, Professor," Albus said. "I just accidentally, er, burned our plant."

"That's okay," Professor Longbottom said. He summoned a new one for them.

"Thanks so much, Professor," Al said gratefully.

"Don't mention. If it weren't for your dad, I probably wouldn't be able to summon anything," Neville laughed.

"Will we be seeing you at Christmas, Professor?" Verity asked.

"Of course, Verity," he said. "I better go teach the other people in this class, shouldn't I?"

"That would probably be a good idea," Dennis laughed. Laughing as well, Professor Longbottom hurried off.

"There's so much I don't know about my dad… what does Professor Longbottom mean?" Albus said, gnashing his teeth together in frustration. Verity cast him a look of utter concern that he didn't see, but she said nothing.

"This is really bothering you, isn't it?" Ver said. She and Albus were lying on the green grass near the lake. Dennis had earned a detention for failing to do his Defense Against the Dark Arts homework and was unable to join them.

"What are you talking about, Ver?" Al said, turning to face her. He took in her every feature… he blue eyes, her full lips, her long lashes, her silky black hair, her chest…

"Albus Severus Potter," she said, using his full name. "You know very well what I'm talking about. Not knowing about your dad's past if really bothering you, isn't it?"

"Yeah," he admitted, with a sigh. "I just… wish I knew more about him. He doesn't talk about it, neither does Mum, nor Aunt Hermione nor Uncle Ron."

"I think they don't talk about it because it brings back bad memories… I mean, didn't both the headmasters you're named after die because of Voldemort?" she said.

"Yeah," he said.

"Well, your dad must've really cared about them to name you after them. Your grandparents are dead because of Voldemort; it can't have been too happy a time in their lives," she said.

"You're right, Ver- as usual," he said. She giggled. "By the way, Dad wrote me. He said his cousin Dudley is coming for Christmas as well."

"Can all these people fit in your house, Al? I mean, really- we may as well invite all of Hogwarts. Aren't the Malfoys coming, too?" she said. He nodded. "You talk about a 'Full House'." She laughed, but Albus didn't. "Oh, I'm sorry- I forgot. It's a Muggle television show. Honestly, Al, you have to come to my house for a holiday once. Why not Easter?"

"That's perfect, I'll ask my mum and dad," Al said eagerly. "There's no one else I'd rather spend my Easter with."

She grinned, but said, "Okay, now you're just stealing what I said about coming to your house for Christmas."

"I forgot about that. It's been six days since you said that, Ver, you really expect me to remember?" he said. She giggled. "Seriously, though- I do mean it."

"Thanks, Al. That's sweet," she said. They laid there for a few moments in a pleasant silence in their blissful escape from the hectic life of Hogwarts… and Verity mused in her head about how much she really enjoyed Albus' company. Of course, she also enjoyed Dennis, James, and Scorpius' company… no matter what Dennis said, Scorpius was just her friend, even if he did fancy her. Though they didn't get to hang out a lot, since Scorpius was in Slytherin and she was in Gryffindor. That was why he sat with the three of them whenever he could… like in Potions. Her thoughts turned to Drasen and her strange reaction to the revelation of her left arm. What's so special about your left arm that you would react that way? Suddenly, she gasped. "Al, I think I know what was on Drasen's left arm," she said.

"What?" he asked.

"We were taught this in History of Magic. Death Eaters, Voldemort's followers, were branded with the Dark Mark… always on their left arm."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks for all your reviews! And I'm still busy not owning Harry Potter. Read and review please! **

Chapter 6

"So you two are convinced Drasen is a Death Eater?" James said. He and Dennis were facing Verity and Albus on the floor of the boys' dormitory that evening.

"Then I'm convinced," Dennis announced, laying back on the floor.

"What? Just like that?" James asked him.

"Yeah. Albus and Verity are the two smartest fourteen-year olds I know; if they say it's probably the Dark Mark, then it probably is," he replied confidently.

"I guess you're right," James sighed.

"That was easier than I thought it would be," Al said, smiling at Verity.

"Um," Ver said, "we should probably update your dad again, huh?"

"Yeah," he said. He retrieved the two-way mirror from his trunk and the four of them gathered in front of it. "Dad?"

"Albus! James! Verity! Dennis! Do I still have to sound excited?!" Harry said.

"It's fine, Dad. Just don't embarrass us," James said, a faint blush creeping into his cheeks.

"Sorry, son," Harry replied. "And to what do I owe this pleasantly surprising visit?"

"Drasen," the four of them replied.

"She has the most annoying voice you can imagine, si-," Dennis said.

Verity cut him off. "The point is," she said, glaring at her brother, "she was looking at all of our love potions at the end of the class and she was looking at Scorpius' and she said it was perfect. So she took a flask and filled it with his potion using her left arm. Then she lifted it up to the light and her left arm came uncovered. There was something there. She covered it up and dismissed the class."

"Then Ver and I were lying on the grass near the lake," Al said, picking up where she left off. "And she realized that Death Eaters always had the Dark Mark branded on their left arm."

"That's very true," Harry said thoughtfully, "but Voldemort's long gone."

"We know that, Dad," Albus said eagerly. "But what if his followers aren't?"

"They were all rounded up and put in Azkaban," Harry supplied.

"I suppose you're right then, sir. Maybe it was… a mistake, Mr. Potter. Thanks for your help," Dennis said.

"No problem," Harry said. "Don't forget to be careful and _stick together_." With that said, Al put the two-way mirror away.

"Your dad has a point," Dennis said. "Voldemort is long gone."

"I know. But what else could be on left arm?" Ver said, racking her brain for an alternate explanation.

"A tattoo? They're pretty popular these days," James said.

"And you would know this," Al said, looking at his older brother curiously, "how?"

"None of your business, little bro," James said nonchalantly.

"James couldn't have a tattoo, Al," Verity said, stifling her laughter, "because he's afraid of needles." The four of them roared with laughter, even James, because he always loved a good laugh, even if it was at his own expense.

"Come on, now," James said, trying to regain his breath. "Let's focus. What are we going to do?"

"We're going to do what Dad said, bro," Al replied. "We're going to be careful and stick together."

Three weeks passed with no progress. Verity spent most of her free time in the library, searching for sort of clue as to what was on Drasen's left arm. This resulted in a decrease in the amount of time Albus was able to spend with her. One October Friday night, he, Dennis, and James were doing their homework in the common room while Verity was in the library, as usual. Al sighed loudly. "That's it, little bro," James said.

"What?" Al asked.

"You are going to go to that library," James snarled, "and you are going to spend time with the girl of your dreams." Albus had admitted to fancying Verity after James interrogating rather roughly after a rather awkward dinner a week ago.

"Why? She's busy; she probably doesn't want to be disturbed. You know Ver," he said, determinedly staring at his textbook.

"Do you think James and I care?" Dennis demanded. "You've done nothing but complain and sigh and whine that you hardly ever talk to Ver anymore since my sister started going to the library constantly and we are damn sick of it! You are going to go to that library so you can finally stop complaining and so you can spend some freaking time with her! Understand?"

Petrified, Albus said, "Sir, yes, sir." He packed up his books into his bag and left via the portrait hole for the library.

As he left, James and Dennis looked at each other, hardly daring to believe their plan had worked. After a few moments of stunned silence, Dennis cracked a grin and cheered, "Victory!"

Albus found Verity with her nose stuck in a book the size of her entire upper body. She was so engrossed in her reading that she didn't notice when he took a seat next to her and opened his textbook and resumed his reading. Finally, he cautiously whispered, "Verity."

She jumped out of her seat, and, remembering she was in the library, stifled a yelp. Seeing his smiling face, she looked relieved and resumed her seat. "God, Albus. Don't _do_ that to me. You scared the shit out of me," she whispered fiercely, her blue eyes alight.

"Sorry, Ver- what was I supposed to do? You had nose buried mile deep in that book," he said, gesturing towards the huge rock of a book in front of her, "and you didn't even notice when I sat down next to you."

"Sorry, Al," she whispered, grinning at him now. "How long were you there? Ages?"

"Naw, just a few minutes," he replied. "How's it going?"

"Al, you saw me at dinner," she said.

"No, I mean your research. How's your research going?" he restated.

"Oh," she said. "Well, I still have no idea of what it could be if not the Dark Mark. I mean, Voldemort's gone and all his followers were rounded up- ah, shit, Al! I'm an idiot!"

"No you're not, Ver," he said fiercely. "You're the best witch I've ever met and I really hate for you to call yourself an idiot, because nothing could be further form the truth." Ver opened her mouth to protest, but Albus kept going. "You're my best friend and I care about you a lot and it would absolutely kill me for you to think of yourself like that." He finally stopped to take a breath.

"Wow, Al," she finally said quietly. "That's… really, really sweet." He nodded in his in embarrassed acknowledgement. "But I can't believe I missed this. Voldemort's gone and his followers were rounded up, yes- but what if Drasen supported him but never openly. What if she didn't do anything to show she was a Death Eater- they'd have no reason to throw her in Azkaban."

"And she'd be…," Albus said, his voice trailing off in fear.

"She'd be free, yes," Verity whispered solemnly. "A free Death Eater."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I love Harry Potter, I just don't own it. Thanks for all your reviews! Read and review! **

Chapter 7

The weeks turned into months, and before they knew it, they'd be leaving for Christmas break the next morning. The night Verity had had her revelation, she, James, Albus, and Dennis had consulted Harry via the two-way mirror. He agreed it was very possible, if not likely. The four of them had kept a strict watch on Drasen since that night, but she had done nothing to indicate that she was a free Death Eater. "This is impossible," Verity said, banging her head against _Quidditch Through the Ages_.

"Don't," Albus said sharply, pulling the book gently out of her grasp. "Relax, Ver. Tomorrow we're off for Christmas break, which is exactly what you should do. You've been overworking yourself lately."

"You're right," she said, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "I just wish there was someway to see where she was all the time… I mean, staking out by the dungeons under a Disillusionment Charm just isn't cutting it… we're all losing sleep."

"I wish there was too, Verity, but I don't of anything else…," James said.

"Yeah, me too. We should take a break and relax these next couple weeks, Ver. Al's right," Dennis said.

"I agree," Ver yawned. "I'm sorry, but I'm too sleepy… I'm going to call it a night go to sleep." She hugged her brother and friends and sleepily headed for the girls' dormitory.

When she well gone, James turned to his younger brother and said, "You're in for quite a treat this holiday, little bro."

"What do you mean?" Albus asked sharply, whipping his head around to face his older brother.

"As soon as we get home, I'm booby-trapping the house with mistletoe," James sniggered. Dennis cracked up laughing as Albus merely looked scared.

"Are you really going to, James?" he asked softly.

"Yeah," James said, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye, "it's about time you got some snogging penciled into your busy schedule."

"But what if…?" Al said, leaving the rest of the sentence unspoken.

"Don't worry about it," Dennis said. "As far as I know, she doesn't fancy anyone."

"But that doesn't mean she doesn't, you said so yourself, Den," he pointed out.

"Not the point," James said, brushing away his brother's worries. "Don't worry, Albus; if it's meant to, it'll work out. Eventually."

"Where'd you read that, _Witch Weekly_?" Dennis teased.

"No. Just a little something I learned from Uncle Ron," he said.

"Albus!" came a joyful screech from inside the house. The five of them had arrived only to see James, Albus, and Lily nearly suffocated by their mum.

"Mum! Can't breathe!" Al gasped.

"Sorry, Al," she said, releasing her children. She caught sight of Verity and Dennis and caught them in a bone-crushing hug. "How are you two? I couldn't think of any better friends for my son than the pair of you."

"Thanks, Mrs. Potter. But now I can't breathe either," Dennis croaked.

"Right," she blushed, releasing them. "Sorry."

"You're just like you're mother, aren't you, Gin?" Harry said, coming into the room.

"Dad!" The three Potter children rushed forth and nearly tackled their dad. When he finally made his way out, he hugged the twins.

"Good to see you two again. We've missed you so much," he said.

"Good news, Mr. Potter," Den said eagerly. "Our parents are letting us come for the summer! We just have to go home for a fortnight, then we can spend the rest of the holiday here!"

"That's great! Oh, I'll have to prepare the guest room… oh, but we only have one!" Ginny said, looking worried.

"That's fine, Mrs. Potter," Dennis said. "Ver can have it- I can share with Albus."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea- you may not have a house to speak of afterwards," Verity teased. They all roared with laughter.

"Why don't you all go get settled in your rooms? The Weasley family will be here soon for dinner," Ginny said. "Al and Dennis are sharing a room and you'll be sharing with Rose, Verity."

Choruses of "Thanks, Mrs. Potter" and "Thanks, Mum" echoed as Lily, James, Albus, Verity, and Dennis headed up the stairs to go dump their stuff in their rooms. Al and Dennis entered the Albus' room and threw their trunks unceremoniously on their beds.

"So, mate," Dennis said, throwing open his trunk, "are you going to make a move on my sister?"

"Why is everyone pressuring me?" Albus demanded. "I'm sick of it!"

"We're just anxious to see you two get together, that's all. No pressure, though," Dennis said. "Seriously, don't worry about it. I'll ask James to cut it out too if you want."

"Yeah, could you? I'm dealing with enough about Ver without him adding to it all," Al said.

"What about me?" Verity said, coming through the door.

"Nothing," Dennis and Al chorused together.

"Right," she said, looking at them suspiciously. "Have you done your Christmas shopping yet?"

"Yes," Al replied, thinking of what he had bought for Verity.

"No," said Dennis regretfully at the same time. "I can't believe it; I forgot _again_!"

"Don't worry, Dennis," Verity sighed. "As usual, I knew you'd forget and as usual, I bought all your Christmas gifts for you. You owe me twenty Galleons and seventeen Knuts."

"Twenty Galleons and seventeen Knuts!" Dennis yelped. "What'd you do, buy out Flourish and Blotts' and Eyelop's Owl Emporium?"

"No. I added interest," she giggled. She and Al laughed as Dennis dug around in the pockets for the money.

"Here," he said, handing over the money grudgingly. "Thanks, though, sis," he amended.

She sat next to Albus on his bed and Dennis sat on his own, not daring to infringe on their "personal space". "I can't wait for Rose and Scorpius to get here; this is going to be a great vacation!" Verity said, paging through a magazine she had brought with her.

"Yeah, it sure is," Al nodded in agreement, staring blithely at her.

"Hey, Al," Dennis said loudly, snapping his friend out of his trance, "I think I heard the front door open; you guys want to go see if Rose is here yet?"

"Hold on," Albus said. "Verity, I got an early Christmas present for you."

"Really?" she said, looking up at him curiously.

"Here," he said, handing her a small box, the type that would hold a ring. She opened it and found a ring inside. It had a strange symbol on it. Al took it from her gently and slid it onto her finger.

"Thanks, Albus," she said, beaming at him. "It's beautiful. What's this symbol?"

"I dunno," he said. "I just found it near the forest one day when I was wandering around the grounds and thought you'd like it. Do you?"

"Yes, Al! I love it!" she beamed.

"Great! Let's go downstairs!" he said. Grabbing Ver by the hand, he dragged her out of the room and they followed Dennis down the stairs. The ten members of the Weasley family were congregated in the living room.

Ron was the first to catch sight of them. "Come here, you three!" he called. He embraced the three of them in a tight hug. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Uncle Ron," Al grinned.

"We're great, too, Mr. Weasley," the twins chorused. Hermione came over and greeted them as well.

That night, after being sufficiently stuffed by Grandmother Weasley's, Mrs. Weasley's, and Mrs. Potter's cooking, James, Verity, Albus, and Dennis gathered in the living room with Harry, Ron, and Hermione to discuss the constantly darkening situation at Hogwarts. It was nearly midnight; Harry, Ron, and Hermione had just finished the tale of how they had defeated Voldemort. "I think that's it," Harry said, clapping his hands together. "Did I leave anything out, Ron? 'Mione?" They both shook their heads.

"Do you still have the Hallows, Dad?" James asked.

"No," Harry said. "I lost the ring the night Voldemort died, but I still have the wand and cloak. I don't use the wand though, hold on- _Accio Elder Wand and cloak!_" A wand and Invisibility Cloak came soaring into the room and landed on Harry's lap. "See?"

"Yeah… hey, did the ring look something like this?" Verity said, sliding the ring Al had given her and handing it to Harry.

"Yes… oh my God, this is it!" Harry said. The three adults crowded around the ring, admiring it. "Where'd you get it?"

"I gave it to her," Albus spoke up. "I found it near the forest one day a few weeks ago." Harry held the three Hallows together. "So… you're the master of Death, dad?"

"Yeah," he said softly.

"Wicked awesome," James whispered.

"No, it's not," Harry said harshly. "I don't want this power."

"But didn't you say that Dumbledore said that you were best fit for power because you didn't want it?" James asked.

"Yes, and if I start wanting it, that isn't true anymore," he muttered. Grasping the three items, he said, "Anyone who willing accepts death to save others not only protects those he or she saved, is not dead, but truly alive." He thrust the ring back at Verity. "You keep it. Like I said, I don't want this power."

"Are you sure, Mr. Potter?" she asked, taking the ring and sliding it back onto her finger.

"It's better if the Hallows are separated," Hermione said. "Harry, why don't you…?"

"Yeah, I've been meaning to," he said. He handed the cloak to James. "You and your brother share this cloak. It was handed down to me by my father, and I'm sure it goes back like that for many decades. We're descendants of the Peverell brothers."

"Keep it safe," Ron said.

"We will," James and Albus said together.

"And I'll keep the wand safe," Harry said.

"So this ring… was once a Horcrux? It's the reason Albus Dumbledore died?" Verity asked, looking at it with a strange expression on her face.

"Yes," Harry replied softly. "Please, Verity… keep it safe." She looked up into his imploring face, which so reminded her of Albus' and she knew at once she would keep it. She also knew why.

"I will," she said quietly. "I'll guard it with my life."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Still don't own Harry… neither does Voldemort. Thanks for all your review! Enjoy this next chapter! Read and review! **

Chapter 8

Christmas night had the house in a flurry. The Potters, Weasleys, Malfoys, Longbottoms, and Dursleys congregated in the Potter house for dinner and gift-giving. Scorpius made several failed attempts to get Verity under mistletoe, but she narrowly avoided him each time, with help from James, Rose, Albus, and Dennis. Scorpius finally gave up and the six of them gathered in Al's room to exchange gifts. "Al, you already gave me my gift, remember?" she said, wiggling her hand at him.

"That was an early gift, Ver. Here's your real gift," he said. She smiled sweetly at him before tearing into the wrapping viciously with her nails.

"Al, I love it! How did you know I wanted a Firebolt 3000?" she exclaimed.

"Well, you've only been lusting after it since our trip to Diagon Alley in August," Dennis laughed. After they were done exchanging gifts, Al and Verity agreed to perform a waltz for them.

"I can't believe you don't know how to waltz," Rose said to Scorpius.

"Don't sue me for being ignorant. It's not my fault my dad can't dance to save his life," he mumbled. The six of them roared with laughter. The music started and Al and Verity danced, humming along animatedly.

"Watch this," James whispered gleefully to Dennis. He pointed to the ceiling directly above Ver and Al and out of nowhere, a sprig of mistletoe began to grow.

"What the hell is that?" Dennis whispered, stifling his laughter.

"Misbehaving Mistletoe," James said. "Professor Longbottom gave me some for Christmas." The two of them sniggered quietly.

"Hey, Ver," James said. "Look up." She looked up and saw the mistletoe. Her jaw dropped like a rock.

"Al," she said. "Albus."

"Hmmm?" he said.

"Look up," he looked up and saw the rapidly growing mistletoe. His eyes flashed immediately to James and Dennis, who were grinning broadly. They wolf-whistled while Rose smiled at Verity encouragingly. Scorpius merely looked anguished. "Should we…?"

"I guess so," Verity said, shrugging. They leaned in towards each other, and their lips met. Al, consumed by the heat of the moment, kissed her as passionately as he only dared in his dreams. Surprised, but recovering her composure quickly, she responded with such enthusiasm, Dennis and James looked away, feeling as if they were intruding upon an intimate moment. Verity's mind was just catching up with her physical actions as a scream echoed through the house, "GET THE HELL OUT OF THE HOUSE! SOMEONE CAST THE DARK MARK!"

Breaking away, Verity came to her sense and grabbed Al's hand, pulling him out of the room. "Come on!" she yelled at the others. The teenagers flew through the front door and onto the street. Scared of what he would find, Albus looked up at the patch of sky over the house. Sure enough, the Dark Mark shimmered in the sky like a cursed jewel, the snake protruding from the open mouth of the skull. Harry was busy counting all the people standing on the street.

"We're all here," he sighed, relieved. "No one's missing."

"What's going on, Harry?" said a frightened voice. It was Dudley Dursley.

"I'm not sure, Big D," Harry said.

"Isn't that… _his_ mark?" said another fearful voice. It was Harry's Aunt Petunia.

"Yeah, yeah it is," he said darkly.

"He's dead, though. Killed by his own curse you said," said Dudley.

"He's dead all right," Harry said.

"Dad," said Albus, coming up next to his father, "what's going on?"

"I don't know, son," he said, ruffling his son's hair affectionately. "Are all of you okay? No one crying?"

"No, Dad," Al said. "Lily and Hugo are fine."

"Good. Stay with them," his father said firmly. Albus obediently headed over to all the others. Verity, Dennis, Scorpius, and James seemed to be having some sort of conference over by a weeping willow. Ver beckoned him over.

"This is what we've been waiting for," Verity was whispering. "This proves something is up and some Death Eaters are still out there."

"Are you sure this isn't some sort of sick joke?" Dennis asked.

"You dolt," Verity said, slapping his arm. "Don't you ever manage to stay away during History of Magic class? The Dark Mark is placed over houses in which someone was killed. Not even the most daring prankster would cast the Dark Mark."

"So what do we do?" Scorpius asked.

"Same as before- be careful and stick together," Albus replied.

"_Luminate!_" Teddy Lupin's voice rang out into the otherwise silent night. His cherry wand was pointed at the sky and as they all watched as a bright yellow lightning bolt formed in the sky next to the Dark Mark. "How do you like that? It's Potter's Mark!" Only then did Albus realize that I was the shape of his father's scar.

A cheer erupted from the large group of people gathered in front of the house. "Dumbledore's Army!" cheered Professor Longbottom.

Albus drew his wand, to cast sparks in the air, but Verity grabbed his arm to stop him. "Don't," she hissed, their faces close together. "You'll get in trouble, Al."

"Thanks for stopping me," he whispered. His warm breath brushed across her face, but she turned away.

"I have to talk to Scorpius," she said. With that, she released him and headed towards the blonde boy. "Scorpius?"

"What?" he asked, his voice wrought with tension and anguish.

"Scorpius, we need to talk," she said. She sat next to him, leaning against the tree heavily. "I'm sorry, Scorpius. I never meant to… to hurt you like that." Silence was his only response. "I- I wasn't thinking. There was mistletoe, I just meant it to be a peck, not the snogging session it turned out to be… I'm sorry, Scorpius."

"Sorry for what exactly?" he asked.

"I'm sorry I hurt you, not that I ever meant to. But I can't bring myself to be sorry for kissing him," she said.

"I suppose I knew it would never work out between the two of us," Scorpius said, finally facing her. "I mean… you've known that I've fancied you since first year for forever… I figured if you felt that same way you'd have done something about it by now, eh?"

"So we're still friends?" she asked, barely daring to believe her luck.

"Definitely," he smiled. "And you should know… Potter… Albus, I mean, not James, really, really fancies you."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Still don't own Harry… Thanks for all your reviews! Read and review!**

Chapter 9

Neither Albus nor Verity mentioned their kiss for the remainder of the holidays. Dennis suspected it was because they were both too worried about whether the other fancied them to risk bringing it up in conversation. Personally, he was getting sick of hearing Ver vent her worries and Al kicking inanimate objects (animate objects whenever anyone stood still long enough during one of his rants) in his frustration. "I," Albus grunted, kicking the foot of his bed, "had my chance. We kissed and I didn't tell her. I am the biggest prat ever! Why don't they just lock me up in Azkaban so I can't cause anymore pain?"

"Hey now," Dennis said, paging through a Quidditch book he was reading. "Don't go there." Al made to aim a kick at his head, but Dennis smartly rolled out of the way.

However, Al and Verity always managed to act normal around each other. They even played a game of Exploding Snap on the train back to Hogwarts. "That was the best Christmas I've ever had, other than the Dark Mark incident," Verity said, meaning it wholeheartedly.

"Yeah. At least they're trying to sort it out at the Ministry. Granddad Weasley's gone mental on them, saying this sort of delay would never happen when he worked in the Ministry," Albus said. He placed the Queen on Hearts on the very top of their card house and it promptly exploded. When the dust and smoke settled, Verity, Albus, Dennis and James couldn't help but laughing at their appearances. Verity was missing half an eyebrow and Al's robes were on fire.

"_Aguamenti!"_ Ver said, pointing her wand at his robes. The water put the fire out, but left him soaking wet. She pointed her wand at herself and muttered some sort of incantation, restoring the missing half of her auburn brow. Then she laughed.

That night, Verity was watching Al and Dennis play wizards' chess in the common room. "Knight to E5," Al said. His knight moved to the specified square and took out Dennis' queen.

"Damn," Dennis mumbled.

Just then, a small second year boy approached Verity and said, "Professor Drasen wants to talk to you in her office about your last Potions essay."

"Thanks, Justin," Verity said, ruffling the brunette boy's hair. He looked pleased with himself and proceeded to scamper off to his friends near the fireplace. "I'll be back soon."

"'K," Al said, not looking up from the chessboard.

"Could you at least look at me when you say 'bye', if you can find the energy to even manage three letters?" Verity sniped, anger bubbling in her stomach. She was sick of waiting for him to talk about what had happened on Christmas night. She started to walk off.

"Verity! I'm sorry!" Albus called, standing up, a wild look in his emerald green eyes. "Ver, wait- please," he begged. She turned around haughtily, her hands on her hips.

"What?" she demanded.

"Don't push it," Dennis hissed to Al. "She's damn angry."

"Please," he begged again. "We need to talk a-about what happened over the holidays."

Her expression changed, softened. "I'm sorry, Al. Not right now, I've got go- Drasen's waiting. But we will talk- as soon as I get back, I promise," she said. Al nodded and looked satisfied.

"Bye, Verity," he said softly, looking her dead in the eye as he said this.

"Bye, Albus," she replied.

"See you later, sis," Dennis called.

"Bye, Den," she called back. The boys returned to their chess game as she headed out of the portrait hole. She climbed out, relieved that the awkward silence on the subject of the kiss had been broken. She hurried towards the dungeons, figuring that the quicker she got there, the sooner she'd be back in the Gryffindor Tower and the sooner she and Albus would talk. She burst through the door of the dungeon and found Drasen sitting at her desk, scribbling away at a paper.

"Ah, Ms. Pri- Pierce," she said. Ver thought it was odd that she had made a mistake with her name, but she brushed it away. "Such a wonderful sight." She paused, looking up at Verity. "But not as wonderful as little Lily and Hugo."

"What do you mean?" Verity asked sharply. Chuckling, Drasen flicked her wand and threw open her closet door, revealing Lily and Hugo tied up, Stunned. "Let them go!" Verity bellowed.

"It won't be that simple, girl," Drasen snarled. She rolled up her left sleeve to reveal the Dark Mark fading on it. "You know what this means?"

"It's the Dark Mark. Voldemort's trademark," she spat back.

"How dare you speak the name, Mudblood!" the Death Eater growled. "But no matter. You are ignorant of such, I am sure."

"Voldemort's long gone, so you can forget about him- Harry Potter defeated him twenty-two years ago!" Verity hissed.

Anger blazed in Drasen's gray eyes. "Come with me," she snarled, "or these two die."

There was really no choice for Verity. "Fine, I'll go," she said weakly. "But release them first." Drasen smiled coldly and released the two. She lifted the spell.

"Shoo. Go back to your common rooms and tell no one of this, or Verity here will pay the price," Drasen hissed. Looking scared, Lily and Hugo hurried out, promising not to say a thing. Verity tried to look at them reassuringly, but she wasn't sure if she succeeded or not. "Come. Now." Drasen dragged her all the way from the dungeons to the Room of Requirement. Ver thought she heard someone lurking in the shadows, but she ignored it. She had bigger problems at hand. "I need somewhere to hide my stuff, I need somewhere to hide my stuff, I need somewhere to hide my stuff," Drasen said aloud in the otherwise deserted corridor. They passed through the door. There were mounds of stuff. The walls and floors were charred; thinking back to Harry's story two weeks ago, she realized that was where Vincent Crabbe had used Fiendfyre, which was responsible for destroyed Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem. Muttering some sort of charm, Drasen stored Verity in some sort of bubble after taking away her wand.

Hours passed, and Verity began to think she was going to go mental before she got out. Drasen had taken to pacing back and forth among the miles of hidden rubbish, muttering to herself. Verity was amusing herself by coming up with different scenarios of how she would be rescued. "I really am going to go mental," she muttered to herself. The door to the room burst open and with a flash of light, all hell broke loose.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER! Thanks for all your reviews! Enjoy! Read and review! **

Chapter 10

"_REDUCTO_!" Albus bellowed. The strange bubble that had held Verity captive for the past two hours burst, glass shattering everywhere. "_Accio Verity's wand!_" Her wand came flying into his hand and he tossed it to her. He was followed into the Room of Requirement by James, Dennis, and Scorpius, all of whom had their wands at the ready. The four of them quickly surrounded Drasen, pointing their wands at her.

"How did you find us?" she snarled.

"Lily and Hugo told us," Scorpius replied.

"Those little pr-," Drasen snapped.

"Those little heroes," James corrected. "What do you want with Verity?"

Drasen laughed evilly. "The only reason I wanted that Mudblood," at the use of the word, Albus snarled at her, "was to get you." She pointed at Albus.

"Me? Why?" he asked, holding his wand steadily.

"Isn't it obvious? You're Potter's son!" she said.

"And why do you care whose son he is?" Dennis demanded.

"Because," Drasen growled gleefully, "I'm Voldemort's daughter."

A moment of shocked silence fell upon them for a moment. Finally, it was Verity who broke it. "Voldemort didn't have a child, you bitch!"

"Don't speak to me like that and don't say his name, filthy Mudblood," she said. "My father didn't want anyone to know about me. If he was to die, I was to continue his legacy!" She laughed mirthlessly. "I kidnapped Lily and Hugo, knowing this Mudblood girl would come with me willingly. I planned to bring her to my home, to lure you," she said, pointing at Albus, "there, in turn luring your father."

"What do you want with my dad?" Albus demanded loudly.

"To kill him, of course. Avenge my father's death," she said, as it was obvious. "But now that I have no choice, my path is clear. Kill you all. But who to start with?"

Verity's heart was beating loudly in her ears. All that she could think of was that she and Albus never got the chance to talk about the kiss. She didn't dare cast a spell, for fear that Drasen would retaliate by killing one of the others in the room. She didn't know why, but she instinctively hid her hand with the ring on it behind her back. She and Al glanced at each other, holding their gazes for several long moments. His eyes spoke depths. Suddenly, Drasen made a noise, as if choking. "Love," she scoffed. "The two of you are in _love_," she mocked. "Come here, girl." As if pushed by an invisible hand, Verity was forced forward. "I wonder... how long the Potter boy will be able to watch me torture you before he begs for me to kill him."

"_Expelliarm-_," Scorpius said.

But Drasen cut him off. "_Sectumsempra!_" she bellowed, slashing her wand in the air. A giant gash appeared in Scorpius' chest, pouring blood. He turned extremely pale and collapsed onto the floor.

"SCORPIUS!" Verity screamed, anguished.

"Don't move!" Drasen snarled at James and Dennis, who had been about to move to help him. Albus stood rooted to spot, staring frightened at Verity, his lips pressed together so tightly that they were purely white. Pointing her wand at Verity, Drasen hissed, "_Crucio!_" Unbearable pain wracked every inch of her body. She writhed in pain on the floor as Drasen cast the curse over and over again. She heard Scorpius moan in his own pain, oblivious to everything else in the world. She heard Albus whimper and Dennis and James scream in protest. "Are you ready to watch your girlfriend die, Potter?"

"Never," Albus snarled. He stepped in front of Verity. "Kill me. Kill me instead of her… and my dad'll still come after you. You'll have him right where you wanted." All was silent. Scorpius had stopped moaning, and James and Dennis were totally speechless.

"Albus," Verity whimpered in pain, finally breaking the silence. "Don't do it. D-don't die."

"I have to do this, Verity," he said, his green eyes softening. "I can't sit here and watch you die."

As he turned his head around to face Drasen again, she cried, "_Avada Kedavra!_" A green flash of light hit Albus square on the chest and he fell back onto Verity.

"NO!" she screamed in anguish. She gathered Albus' body into her arms, rocking back and forth as she let the tears come.

Dennis cast a powerful Bat-Bogey Hex at Drasen, catching her unawares, and succeeding in distracting her. He hurried over to Scorpius, rummaging around in his pockets. He muttered some sort of healing spell over his cursed wound. After his flesh had knitted back together, he produced some dittany to give to him. As Dennis busied himself with healing Scorpius, James hurried over to Verity and Albus. "James," Ver whimpered. "He's gone- forever-," her voice sounded strangled as she began sobbing with renewed vigor. James felt hot tears pouring down his own cheeks, but he hugged Verity to him tightly, placing a brotherly kiss on the top of her head.

"Time to die, Potter. And when your father comes after me, I'll finally gain immortality," Drasen said. She had finally fought off Dennis' Bat-Bogey Hex and was pointing her wand steadily at James. "_Avad-_,"

"_PROTEGO!_" cried a voice.

"Impossible," murmured Drasen. "Simply impossible."

"Wrong," said Albus Severus Potter, who was very much alive, "so wrong."

"Albus!" cried Verity, a wide grin breaking across her face. She stood again and pointed her wand at Drasen. "_Cruci-_," she cried, but the room went dark.

"Damn it, this is some of Uncle George's Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder," James coughed. Verity, James, and Albus grabbed hold of each other groped along the wall.

"Dennis?" Verity called.

"Over here," he replied in the darkness. "I've got Scorpius with me. Hurry." After what seemed like hours, Verity finally grasped her brother's hand and the five of them burst through the door, gasping for breath.

"Dad! Dad!" Al was screaming into the mirror.

"Al? What's wrong?" Harry said, looking frazzled by their appearances. Scorpius was in the hospital wing, so James, Verity, Albus, and Dennis had decided to talk to Harry while they could. James told him the whole story of Drasen and her escape. "Shit!" Harry cursed. "She must've escaped through the Vanishing Cabinet."

"How did Albus survive?" Verity asked.

"I-I don't know. Unless… did I say something when I had the Hallows with me during the holidays?" Harry asked.

"Um… yeah," Dennis said, racking his brains. "You said, 'Anyone who willing accepts death to save others not only protects those he or she saved, is not dead, but truly alive'."

"That's it!" Verity cried. "You're the master of Death, and you were holding all the Hallows when you said it! Albus willingly died to save me, so not only am I protected as you were by your mother, Mr. Potter, but he was alive, not dead!"

"Verity, you're brilliant! You remind me more and more of Hermione every day," Harry exclaimed. "I'm pulling you kids out of Hogwarts for a few weeks. You need your rest. I'll be there in an hour; I have to talk to Ginny, Draco, Ron, Hermione, and the Pierces." Al put the mirror away, and the four of them sat together in silence. Conveniently forgetting that she was in the boys' dormitory, she fell into a deep sleep on Al's bed.

Verity woke with a start about twenty minutes later and found Al lying on the bed next to her. "Albus?" she said.

"What?" he asked. He saw her curious expression and said, "Oh, nothing happened. The other beds were taken and I didn't want to wake you…"

"It's fine. You know… the only thing that could go through my mind when Drasen 'killed' you, was that we never got to talk… about the kiss," she said.

"Yeah," he said softly. "Ver, I should've told you a long time ago," he said, shaking his head regretfully. "I love you. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she said so fiercely that he nearly recoiled. "Don't ever be sorry for making me so damn happy, Albus Severus Potter." She pressed her lips to his briefly, sending jolts of pleasure through him.

Suddenly, a frazzled looking Lily erupted through the door and they broke apart hastily. "You better get to the hospital wing quickly; Scorpius is about to die!"


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I still don't own Harry Potter… Thanks for all your reviews, and sorry about the cliffie! Read and review! **

Chapter 11

In a blur of motion, James, Dennis, Verity, and Albus ran like hell all the way to the hospital wing. Scorpius' bed was the only one occupied. He was paler than ever and his blonde hair seemed to have lost some of its luster. Verity stood by his head and grasped his hand, hoping and praying he would pull through. "Madam Humphrey?" she called softly. The portly witch appeared, acknowledging her call. "Is he going to… t-to die?"

"There is no way to know for sure, Ms. Pierce," she replied quietly, almost mournfully. "However, at the moment, it looks that way." Suddenly, the doors burst open to the hospital wing once more, revealing a frazzled looking Draco Malfoy. Verity moved closer to Albus to allow him room to see his son.

"Harry told me what happened," Draco said. "My son… Scorpius…"

"Mr. Malfoy," Dennis said, finally finding his voice, "after Drasen attacked us, she wouldn't let us go near him. After she 'killed' Al, I cast a Bat-Bogey hex at her, to distract her. It worked long enough for me to heal him and give him dittany, but… I don't know if it was done soon enough. I'm sorry."

"What curse? What hex?" Draco asked quietly. He looked at Verity, knowing that his son considered her to be his best friend.

"I don't remember," Ver said sadly.

"I do," James said quietly. "I'm not sure what it was called, but Drasen said, '_Sectumsempra_'." Draco's face darkened.

"Your dad used that against me once," he said. At the look upon their faces, he quickly added, "No, no, it wasn't like that; he didn't know what it did, he thought it would be harmless in the end. And he had every reason to use it against me, I tried to use an Unforgivable Curse on him. It wasn't like that at all."

Al and James seemed to relax and as they watch, Scorpius' face twitched. His eyes fluttered open. "Scorpius," Verity said softly. His eyes found hers and he opened his mouth to speak.

"Ver-i-tee," he croaked out.

"Yeah?" she said, squeezing his hand tightly. "I'm here, Scorpius."

"I won't die," he said, his voice strangled. "I promise… you're my best friend." Tear sparkled in her blue eyes as she smiled in relief.

"Scorpius? Scorpius? It's me, buddy. It's Dad," Draco said. Scorpius turned his eyes towards his father.

"Dad… I'm okay… Dennis healed me… I think," Scorpius said.

"Yeah," Dennis said meekly, "yeah, I think I did, Scor."

"You're going to be okay," Al said, finally finding his voice. "You're going to be okay."

"Did you and Ver get together?" Scor choked out in a small voice.

"Well…," Albus said, glancing at Verity uncertainly. She nodded to as if to tell him that it was okay to tell Scorpius the truth. "Yeah. Yeah, we did."

A smile crossed his face. "Good. Now, even if I did die, which I won't, I would die happy."

"But Scor," Draco said, sounding surprise, "you told even me that you love her."

"Exactly," he whispered. "I just want her to be happy. And if being with Al makes her happy, then it makes me happy."

Scorpius was transferred to St. Mungo's later in the day and his prognosis looked wonderful. James, Dennis, Albus, Verity, Lily, Hugo, and Rose were sitting in the Gryffindor common room when Harry came flying through the portrait hole. He gathered James, Al, and Lily into his arms. "I'm so glad you're okay," he said into Lily's hair.

"Dad, we won't be if we can't breathe," Al croaked out.

"Sorry," Harry said, releasing his children. He turned to Hugo and Rose. "Your mum and dad are waiting for us at the house." He turned to Verity and Dennis. "Your parents can't come because… they, er, uh…"

"They're dead, aren't they?" Dennis said sadly.

"Yeah. It seems Drasen was able to track them down, due to the fact that they're Muggles and had no idea what was coming," Harry said, sad to tell them this.

Verity and Dennis looked at each other and started crying softly. Dennis pulled his sister into a giant hug and the normally calm and collected twins turned into a massive blob of crying. Suddenly, Verity extracted herself from her brother's arms and hurled over the side of the couch uncontrollably. She hadn't eaten since the day before, but the vomit kept coming. Unable to sit there any longer, Albus stood up and grabbed her from behind. "Shh," he whispered softly in her ear. "You're okay, you're okay." He picked her up and carried her over to another couch as his dad cleared away the vomit.

"They're dead, Albus," she whimpered. "Like I thought you were. Gone- forever."

"I know, Ver, I know," he said, gathering her into his arms. "I know it's got to be bad. Are you okay?"

"No," she sniffed, as he kissed the top of her head softly, "but I will be. Because I have Dennis, James, Scorpius… and most of all, I have you."

The funeral for the Pierces was anything but joyful. Everyone dressed themselves in black, except for Verity and Dennis. They came down, dressed all in white. "What are you doing?" James asked them when they came down.

"Our parents lived good lives, despite the fact that they met an untimely end," Dennis replied. "They would've wanted us to celebrate their lives, not to mourn their deaths."

Despite that fact, the twins spent nearly the entire time crying. Verity heard nothing of the eulogy given by some professor. Albus didn't dare leave her side. "Al," she said during the reception. "I'm okay. You can go to the bathroom."

"Are you sure?" he asked. She nodded. "Okay. But I'm coming right back."

Nightmares haunted Albus. Harry had pulled them out of school for a month to recuperate and to keep them safe. "I won't have any more Freds, Colins, Lupins, Tonks- I can't, I won't," was his answer anytime someone asked why he had pulled them out. It had only been a week, but Al had unfailingly woken screaming in the middle of the night. Every time, Verity came running from the room she shared with Rose across the hall and James and Dennis woke from beds across the room. "What is it this time, Al?" Verity asked sleepily, knowing, even as she asked, what his answer would be.

"Drasen, again," he said. "This time it was the part where she was about to kill James."

"I'm here," James said groggily, just waking up, "I'm alive."

"I know that," Al snapped. "Did Drasen say something right before she started to kill you?"

"I dunno, I was too busy getting the shit scared out of me," James replied dryly.

"I do," Dennis said. Verity silently thanked God for the fact that her brother had a mind like a steel trap. Well, for stuff like this anyway. "She said, 'Time to die, Potter. And when your father comes after me, I'll finally gain immortality'."

"What could she be talking about?" Al mused aloud. "She wouldn't use Horcruxes again, her father made that mistake."

"Yeah, well… they don't learn do they?" James asked.

"And the Sorcerer's Stone is long gone…," Al added. "What the hell could she be freaking talking about?"

In a sudden moment of realization, Verity inhaled a deep breath. "Oh my God," she whispered, fingering the ring Albus had given her for Christmas. She suddenly realized why she had instinctively hidden the ring from Drasen.

"What is it, Ver?" Albus asked, taking her hand in his.

"Oh my God," she said again. "She's not after Horcruxes or the Sorcerer's Stone… she's after the Deathly Hallows!"


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Don't own Harry Potter, never said I did, don't sue. Thanks for all your reviews! Read and review! **

Chapter 12

"Oh my God, you're right," Dennis gasped. "That's why she wanted Harry to come after her. Not only could she kill him… she could be the master of the Elder Wand and get the Hallows!"

"That's why I thought to hide the ring from her! Shit, we have to tell Harry," Verity gasped. The four of them rushed into the living room, where Harry and Ginny were playing a game of wizards' chess. "Mr. Potter!"

"Isn't it a little late for you kids to be up?" he asked, looking up at them, shocked.

"Dad," Al gasped. "Drasen- sh-she's after the Hallows!"

"What?" he said.

"She mentioned when you came after her, she'd gain immortality. The Sorcerer's Stone's gone, and she wouldn't do Horcruxes after what happened to Voldemort, so she's after the Deathly Hallows," Dennis breathed out.

"Damn, they're right, aren't they Gin?" Harry said, looking at his wife. She nodded sadly.

"Probably are, Harry," Ginny replied.

"So… wait. Didn't you say you told Dumbledore's portrait that you were going to put it back in his tomb?" James asked his father.

"Well," Harry started, looking guilty, "I did, but then I…"

"It's was Hermione's idea," Ginny said, picking up where he left off. "After you thought you saw the Dark Mark on Drasen's arm, she suggested Harry put an exact replica of the Elder Wand in the tomb instead. So he broke back into the tomb and replaced the real wand with the replica. He told Dumbledore's portrait, and he agreed it would be a good idea."

"I don't actually use the Elder Wand though," Harry said. "And I plan to die a natural death so that I die the wand's last true master and it can't fall into the wrong hands."

"But what if…?" Albus said, scared to finish his sentence.

Harry sighed. "What if I can't die a natural death? I plan to have someone I trust overpower me so I know that it hasn't fallen into the wrong hands, at least for the time being," he said.

"But who…?" Dennis asked.

"That's for me to know, and you to hopefully never find out," said Harry. "It's best if that's kept a secret."

"Yeah, 'cause you were the best Occlumens ever," Ginny snorted.

"Hey now," Harry said. "That was uncalled for."

"It's true," Gin insisted.

"Occlumency?" James asked. "Wait, wait, wait. Basically, if you're a good Occlumens, you can lie without anyone finding out, right?"

"Yeah. If you're really good, you can get away with lying to Voldemort. I'm sure Drasen's a skilled Legilimens," Harry said.

"Then how could she not know that Verity was hiding the ring from her…?" Dennis asked.

"I dunno…," Harry said, "unless you're good at Occlumency?"

Verity shrugged. "I dunno, I've never tried it before and no one's ever tried to teach me. No one I know is a Legilimens and I'd really rather not try it around Drasen if I'm not sure."

"Well, we'll see," Harry said. "Now you four go to bed. We're visiting Uncle George in Diagon Alley tomorrow."

"But he owns a joke shop," Al pointed out.

"Yeah, well," Ginny said, "your father I and figured you could use a good laugh. After narrowly escaping death and all."

They entered Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes the following day around eleven o'clock, much to the delight of James, Albus, Verity, and Dennis. "This place," Verity said, "is amazing."

"Totally," Dennis said, agreeing wholeheartedly with his sister. The bright colors and many practical joking items could make even the most concentrated person feel ADD. Verity headed over to a display of violently pink Wonder Witch products, which the boys felt compelled to avoid.

She and Rose gushed over the Pygmy Puffs. "I can't believe they still have those," Ginny said, coming up behind them. "I bought one just before my fifth year- Arnold. I miss him."

"What happened to him?" Rose asked her aunt.

"Your mum's cat Crookshanks ate him," Ginny said, grimacing at the memory. Rose and Verity laughed uncontrollably.

"Ooh, look- love potions!" Rose squealed, pointing to several heart shaped vials.

"Yeah. I could definitely think of a few uses for those…," Verity said suggestively.

Rose laughed. "You don't need one for Albus, Verity. He's been smitten with you since the beginning of our third year," she said.

"I know… what are you planning, Rosie? You going to give one to my brother?" she asked.

She gaped at her. "H-how did you know that?"

"It was quite obvious," she said, "to me anyway. Dennis would never notice. You were staring at him during most of all of Christmas break. You know, Rose, you don't hang out with us enough. I know Al wishes you would; you're his cousin!"

"Yeah, I know… that'll change, I promise," she vowed.

"Great," Ver grinned. She winked at Rose. "Don't worry, I'll help you out with Dennis. Nobody knows my brother better than I do."

"Hey, sweetheart," Albus said, coming up to Verity from behind and wrapping his arms around her. He looked at the love potions in his cousin's hands in alarm. "You're not planning to spike my pumpkin juice with one, are you?"

Grinning, Ver turned her head so she could whisper in his ear, "Why, Al? Do I need to?"

"Never," he whispered back, nibbling a bit on her ear. She giggled.

"Could you two please get a room?" James asked, walking towards them. "I'd like to keep my breakfast in my stomach, thanks." Albus rolled his eyes at his brother, but released her reluctantly.

"Just because you don't have a girlfriend…," he muttered.

"I do," James protested.

"Shannon doesn't count, seeing as you haven't gotten the courage to ask her out yet," Verity scolded.

"Yeah, where's that Gryffindor courage now James?" Dennis teased. Rose, Dennis, Albus, and Verity roared with laughter and James merely blushed.

Suddenly, Albus stopped laughing and looked alarm. "What that's on your shirt, Ver? Is that blood?" he asked, sounding panicked. They all stopped laughing slowly as Verity looked down at her white shirt, which was now indeed stained red with blood.

"Well," she said weakly, "this can't be good." With that, she collapsed.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Still don't own Harry Potter… Thanks for all your reviews! Read and review please! **

Chapter 13

"Is she going to be okay?" Dennis was asking. James, Dennis, Albus, Rose, Lily, Hugo, Harry, Ginny, and George were crowded around Verity's hospital bed at St. Mungo's.

"Yes, she should recover quite well within a week," the Healer said, and all of them breathed a sigh of relief. "It was a cursed wound, but we caught it soon enough. But she'll always have a scar."

"Thanks," Harry said, as the doctor left. Albus was silent, holding Verity's hand in his tightly. "Are you okay, Al?"

Al nodded silently; it was as if he didn't even hear his father's question.   
Suddenly, the door to the room burst open and Scorpius came running in. He slid into the side of the bed, saying, "My dad told me and I came running as soon as I heard… what happened?"

"We don't know," James replied. "We were in Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes-,"

"Oh, I love that store," Scorpius interrupted.

Glaring at him, James continued, "-and Al pointed out the blood on her shirt and she fainted."

"Um… Scorpius?" Rose said, blushing.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"You're kind of… lacking in the backing," she said.

"Whaddya me- oh," he said, blushing as he realized that his gown was open in the back. "I'll be back."

Shaking their heads, Dennis, James, and Albus turned their eyes back towards Verity. Suddenly, her eyes fluttered open. "Verity!" Albus said, a wide grin breaking out across his face. "How do you feel?"

"Terrific," she croaked. "Never better."

"Oh, uh- let's leave and give these kids some privacy, eh?" Ginny said, dragging her husband and brother out of the room.

Without another moment's hesitation, Albus bent his head down and pressed his lips to Ver's. She responded, but broke off after only a few seconds. "Sorry, Al," she choked out. "I'm kind of tired."

"That's okay," he smiled sadly. "I'll do all the work."

"Okay, it's nice that you finally got together with my sister, but… ew," Dennis said.

"Ditto," Rose said, agreeing. "Now that you two have, er, kissed, why don't we try to figure out what the hell happened back there?"

"You think I know? I'm the one who fainted. What happened afterwards, anyway?" Verity asked.

"Well, Albus picked you up and ran over to Uncle Harry and all of us were panicking and then we did Side-Along Apparition to get here and then they took you in and started working on you. Al and Den were stuffing their faces the whole time we were waiting," Rose replied.

"You two have always been nervous eaters," Ver smiled.

"Just because I gain fifteen pounds before every round of exams…," Dennis said, his voice trailing off.

"And lose them so rapidly after you pass that you pass out like a girl during Quidditch practice…," Al said.

"Doesn't mean you're a nervous eater, riiight," Rose finished, teasing him.

"By the way, Scorpius came running in here the moment he heard you were ill, but he went to go get normal clothes 'cause he was mooning the whole hospital," James added. Verity managed a weak laugh.

"That's Scorpius all right…," she mumbled. "Speak of the devil," she said as Scorpius came bustling back into the room.

"Damn," the blonde boy said. "Good stuff always happens whenever I leave."

"And the good thing here would be…?" Verity asked.

"When the pretty girl wakes up," Scorpius said, winking at her. She blushed a bit. Al's face hardened. "Relax, Albus- I'm just complimenting her."

"Whatever, Scorpius," he muttered.

"No, I'm serious. What'd you want me to do, call her ugly?" he asked.

"Well… no," Albus grudgingly admitted. "Sorry, Scor… I guess I'm just…"

"In love?" Rose suggested.

"Yeah," he said, grinning, "that's it." Ver grinned at him, squeezing his hand in hers weakly.

"So… what happened?" Scorpius asked. After Dennis, Rose, Albus, and James took turns explaining exactly what happened, he said, "Does anyone have any idea why she was cursed?"

"I don't know… but I've got a sick feeling Drasen had something to do with it," Verity said suspiciously.

"But all she did was torture endlessly for half an hour by use of the Cruciactus Curse," Dennis said.

"Do I even have to tell you what's wrong with that sentence?" Ver asked, glaring at her twin.

"Yeah, actually. You do," Dennis said, after a moment's thought.

"I can't believe you passed all your exams, you dolt," Rose said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder. "Did anything happen before James, Al, Den, and Scor came? By the way, why did no one think to come get _me_?"

"We were in a hurry. Hugo went to look for you, but he couldn't find you," James replied.

"Oh, right… I was in detention… which I could've gotten out of if someone had remembered and warned me!" Rose said, her voice rising hysterically. "Next time, you get me, or I'll hex you all into the next decade."

"Agreed," they all said.

"Well, before they came," Verity said, "she just took my wand and put me in some sort of bubble…"

"The bubble!" Albus said. "It's probably cursed with Dark Magic, so that if you ever escaped…"

"I'd get a cursed wound about a week later," Verity finished for him.

"I read about it in a book I borrowed from the library!" Rose exclaimed. "It was meant for captivity in remote locations, so you wouldn't make it very far. But since you were just at Hogwarts… it didn't work quite as well as she intended it to. It's called a… a… Time-Bomb Bubble, I think? I'll have to ask my mum, she'd know."

"Your mum knows everything, Rose," Dennis said.

"Not my fault," she retorted. "And so not my problem."

"Did the Healer say anything about what'll happen to me?" Verity asked rather suddenly.

"Er, yeah… he said you'd recover well in a week and that they caught it soon enough but… you'll have that scar forever, sis," Dennis said. Groaning, Verity lifted her shirt to view the scar, which was shaped exactly like a lightning bolt.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Don't own Harry Potter, don't sue. Thanks for all your reviews! Enjoy! Read and review! **

Chapter 14

"Well, I guess that family just has a thing for lightning," Harry said, staring blithely at the scar on Ver's stomach.

"This is just… just plain freaky. What the hell is going on?" Ron said. Hermione and Ron had come to the Potter house as soon as Verity had gotten out of the hospital and requested her to show them her scar.

"Now you've been branded… just like me," Harry gulped.

"Harry, Drasen didn't try to kill her. She should be fine," Hermione said, putting a reassuring hand on her friend's arm.

" 'Should be' being the key phrase here," Ron muttered.

"Ronald!" Hermione scolded. "Don't scare her!"

"You know I'm right here, right?" Verity said. "Can I go back to Al's room now? He's waiting to finish a game of Exploding Snap."

"Of course, Verity. I apologize on behalf of my husband, brother, and friend," Ginny said, rolling her eyes at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Verity pulled her blue shirt back down and trotted up the steps.

She had lied to them- Al wasn't waiting to finish a game of Exploding Snap. He was waiting to finish a snogging session that they had started the first moment they had had alone. She opened his bedroom door to find his sitting on the edge of his bed, staring straight at the wall. "Ver!" he said brightly as soon as he spotted her. "Close the door." She closed the door behind her, smiling to herself. She sat next to him on his bed, leaning against him heavily.

"Sorry I was gone so long, your dad, aunt, and uncle couldn't help themselves. They were staring at my scar the whole time, talking like I wasn't there at all. What did you do while I was gone?" she said.

"Miss you… and… miss you," he said, smiling at her.

"That's so sweet," she said. She pressed her lips to his, her hands pushing against his chest. His hands sought her hair, as he played with it lovingly. He then wrapped his arms around her torso, pulling her closer to him. Gathering all his courage, his tongue sought permission to enter her mouth. She was just about to grant it when-

"I'm blinded for life!"

Albus and Verity broke apart with a start as they whipped around to face Dennis, who was covering his eyes with his hands. "Sorry, sis. Sorry, mate," he said, grinning in embarrassment.

"I'll be back," Verity said to Albus. He nodded as she headed off towards her brother angrily. He was annoyed at having their snog interrupted, but he was quite glad that her anger wasn't directed at him.

Just outside the room, Verity grabbed hold of the front Dennis' shirt and hissed, "What is your problem?"

"I'm sorry, sis- really! I was coming to ask you how you were feeling! I didn't know you and Al were snogging or I wouldn't have come!" he said, pleading with her.

Guility, she released. "Sorry I overreacted, bro," she said regretfully. "It's just… when I thought he had died…"

"It's okay, Verity, I get it," Dennis said, hugging his twin tightly. "Now go back and snog Al's pants off." Seeing the look on her face, he hastily added, "That's just an expression… don't actually…"

"It's okay, Dennis. I know what you mean," she said, stifling her giggling. She returned to the room to find Al lying on his bed on his back, his eyes closed in a peaceful trance. Smiling to herself, she quietly crept towards the bed and laid next to him. "Earth to Albus Potter."

His green eyes fluttered open. "You're back," he said brightly. "You didn't completely destroy Dennis did you? I've got to have a guy friend in my House who isn't my brother."

"No, I didn't kill him. He explained that he didn't know we were… busy and that if he had known he wouldn't have disturbed us. Plus he was coming to see how I was feeling, which was sweet, so… I let him off the hook. Just this once," she said. He grinned at her.

"When did you…?" he said after a few moments of peaceful silence.

"Realize I loved you?" she said. He nodded. "I'm not sure. I always knew that I enjoyed your company more than James or Scorpius, but like I said, I'm not entirely sure. I know I definitely realized it Christmas night, when we kissed."

"Yeah, you kind of acted like you did, but you never brought it up again…," Albus said.

"Kind of? Al, I kissed you like I've never kissed anyone before," she laughed. He laughed too, grinning happily. "But yeah… I wasn't sure if you fancied me. I mean, Scorpius said you did, but I didn't want to risk our friendship if I wasn't sure… then that night in the common room, just before Drasen kidnapped me, I'm so sorry, Albus… I overreacted."

"It's okay; it wasn't your fault. I should've looked at you when I said 'bye'. After that night, I realized that I should always do that, especially because you never know if you'll see someone again," he said. "When Lily and Hugo told us what happened, I froze. My heart stopped beating for what seemed an eternity in hell and I was scared you were dead."

"I'm sorry," she grimaced.

"Don't be. At least you getting mad forced me to bring up the kiss again," he said.

"Yeah. Yeah, at least there's that," she said. "When do you start fancying me?"

"Start of third year. On the first night, you hugged me before you went to bed, and my stomach swooped like it always did when you touched me, and I was smitten. A lost cause. I never fancied a girl other than you again," he said.

"What do you like about me?" she wondered aloud.

"You really wanna know?" he grinned at her. She nodded. "First, you're personality- you're just an amazing girl. You're smart, determined, loyal, confident, a brilliant witch, strong, physically and mentally, loving, brave, sweet… um… that's about what? Eleven things?" She nodded again. "And I you're beautiful. Your body is… wow. And your kissing is… wow. And your eyes and hair and face and chest and torso are all… wow." He was breathless at this point, his eyes wandering freely up and down her body, and she giggled happily. "And every moment I spend with you… each and everyone is brilliant."

"You want to know what I like about you?" she asked.

"Sure," he replied.

"You're a great wizard, loyal, smart, courageous, strong, reliable, confident, dedicated, caring… and as for your body? You're really good-looking, I've always thought so," he beamed widely at her as she said this, "Your chest and hair and eyes and abs and… definitely way above average, even for a Quidditch player. And your kissing- well, just let me say you kiss the best out of any guy I've ever dated, and there's something there when I kiss you that was never there when I kissed any other guy… I think it's because I love you, Albus Severus Potter."

"You know what would make this moment complete?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbow and grinning down at her.

"What?" she asked, liking where this was going.

"A good snog," he said. "But only after I tell you this." He bent his head down towards her, so that his mouth was directly next to her ear his warm breath ticked it. "I love you, Verity Elizabeth Pierce."

"I love you too, Albus Severus Potter," she whispered softly. He bent over her and kissed her full on the mouth with such enthusiasm that she moaned loudly. His hands found hers, and they interlocked their fingers. And for once, everything felt right in the world for Albus and Verity. She willingly gave him access to her open mouth, and she got lost in the moment. Her hands wandered over his sculpted chest and under his shirt, tracing her finger along his chest gently. Groaning in pleasure, he reached under shirt, but just to touch her torso, gently fingering her scar. Without warning, pain shot through Verity's torso and she broke off the kiss and began to scream.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Still don't own Harry… and I'm getting tired of saying this. Thanks for your reviews and enjoy this chapter! Read and review! **

Chapter 15

Verity woke to find that she was lying on a bed and she was surrounded by the sound of muffled voices. She opened her eyes a crack, but shut them immediately; whoever was in the room had left the lights on and it hurt her eyes. Slowly, she opened her eyes and let them get used to the light. "She's awake." It was Al's voice. In a flash, he was by her side, holding her hand tightly and stroking her hair softly. "Are you okay?"

"Brilliant. How many times am I going to pass out this school year? Who wants to bet? Come on now, don't be cheap," she said. A sad smile spread across the face of those surrounding her. Rose, Albus, Dennis, and James surrounded her, all with worried looks on their faces. "Come on, now- don't worry so much. Didn't Harry say this happened to him all the time when Voldemort was alive?"

"Well, yeah…," James admitted. "But it still scares us really badly, Ver."

"Sorry, I'll try to control my scar which just so happens to be cursed with Dark Magic," she said sarcastically. She struggled to sit up, despite Albus' hands gently pushing her back, and succeeded, though panting heavily. "See?" she panted. "I'm fine." Weakly, she fell back onto the pillow, sighing in defeat.

"Yeah, I should sign you up for a Quidditch World Cup game," Dennis said dryly.

Ginny bustled through the door carrying a tray of food. "Are you all right, Verity?" she asked.

"Yeah, thanks, Mrs. Potter," she said as Ginny set the tray down on her lap. With Al's help, she managed to sit up, her back leaning against the headboard.

"Are you sure? Al told me what happened," Ginny said. Verity cast an alarmed look at Albus, fearing he had told his mother about their snogging session. He shook his head, indicating he hadn't told his mom about that particular time they spent together. "He said the two of you were talking and suddenly, you just started screaming in pain."

"Yeah," she said. "I'm not sure what happened. But I am starving, thanks so much."

"Any time, Verity," she said, sweeping out of the room. "Look after her, you four."

"We will," they chorused together.

"So what really happened?" Dennis asked.

"What do you mean?" Verity asked, calmly spooning oatmeal into her mouth.

"Well, after you nearly beat me up, I believe I told you to go and 'snog Al's pants off', so I know you two weren't 'talking'," he said, using air quotes. Al's mouth dropped and he looked at Verity in shock. Rose and James merely sniggered and Verity looked like she might strangle someone.

"Why did you just go and tell everyone in the room the stupidest thing you've ever said and embarrass yourself, Al, and me?" she demanded.

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking," he mumbled.

"As per usual," she retorted.

"Al, it's just an expression. I didn't really mean for her to…" Dennis said.

"Don't worry, you don't have to explain- I get it," Albus said quickly, grinning at Verity. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "Okay, you want to know what really happened?"

"Hell, yeah!" James said.

"T-tell 'em, Verity," Al stuttered.

"Wimp," she teased. "Fine, we were… snogging and Al was… on top of me, and he sort of touched my scar-."

"Through your shirt?" Rose asked.

"Well, no," Ver said. "Oh don't look so shocked, Dennis. Just because you've never snogged anyone other than Wera Bulstrode… Anyway, then it just started hurting really badly so I broke off the kiss and started screaming like hell."

"I've just had a really bad idea," Al said quietly. "What if it started hurting because I touched it?"

"What? No… that wouldn't happen, Al. It couldn't," Verity assured him. He still looked uncertain. "Fine, you want to test it? Here, touch it," she said, rolling her shirt up just enough so that her scar was visible. He shook his head. "Fine, you do it, Rose!" Rose carefully traced a finger on the scar, scared she would cause her friend pain. "See? Nothing."

"I guess so," Al said, tracing a finger on it now. Suddenly, sharp pain coursed through her body and she gasped in pain. He quickly withdrew his finger. "See! I told you!"

"I don't get it. Rose touched it and nothing happened, but the second you touched it…," she said sadly. "I have no idea what's going on. I wonder if your dad would…"

"I can't be sure," Hermione said from in between Harry and Ron on the opposite couch. "But here's my guess."

"Here guesses are usually right," Ron added, receiving a sweet smile from his wife.

"I think that the cursed bubble Drasen put you in probably had some sort of lasting effect on it, something St. Mungo's couldn't cure… you said you and Al are... dating, right?" Hermione said.

"Yeah," Verity replied, grasping Albus' hand tightly in her own. Harry and Ginny smiled broadly at them, which was, frankly, a bit disturbing.

"And didn't Drasen know that you would be sufficient bait for Albus?" she asked. Verity nodded. "So she must've known that he loved you."

"A two-month old piece of grilled cheese could've picked that one up," Dennis muttered. After receiving glares from Verity, Albus, and Hermione, he shrugged and muttered, "Sorry, I call 'em like I see 'em."

"She placed a curse so he could never touch you again, because being related to Voldemort, she limits love to touch. But they were able to halt the curse's progress at St. Mungo's, so the effect was limited to the scar," she finished. "His touch, which gives you mental pleasure, now gives you physical pain. Well, it at least applies to your scar."

Ten minutes later, Albus, James, Verity, and Rose were sitting in the girls' room discussing this latest development. "That's sick," Rose said. They were silent for a while.

Albus opened his mouth to speak after several long moments, but Verity cut him off. "I know what you're thinking Albus. And don't even say it. Being with you has made me happier than I've ever been in my life."

"And I feel the same way," he said eagerly. "But if my touch causes you pain, then-."

"Only if you touch my scar," she said, cutting him off again. "We'll just have to be careful. After losing my parents, Albus- I just couldn't bear to lose you, too."

"You're right then," he consented. "I just can't bear to cause you pain, Verity."

"It's okay, Al," she said, snuggling against him. "We'll get through this."

That night, Al found Verity reading a book near the fireplace close to midnight. "Hey, Ver," he said softly.

"Hey, Al," she replied, smiling. He sat next to her on the floor and she closed her book, snuggling up to him.

"I felt bad about suggesting that we break up," he said guiltily.

"Don't be. It was the noble thing to do, even if it would've made us both unhappy. Your dad did the same thing with your mum when he went off to fight Voldemort. You're more like him than you realize, Al," she said. He smiled at her praise.

"Well, I still feel bad. So I got you a gift," he said. He handed her a necklace with a diamond dangling on it in the shape of a lightning bolt. "I saw it in a store at Diagon Alley before he went to Uncle George's store and I thought it'd be perfect…"

"Albus, I love it," she grinned, as she let him put it on her neck. "Thank you so much."

"Verity, I love you," he said.

"I love you too, Albus," she said. And they finally shared their first quiet moment together.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Still don't own Harry… Thanks for all your review! Enjoy this next chapter and read and review please! **

Chapter 16

"Why'd you get me a lightning bolt? I didn't have my scar then," she said.

"Because it was kind of like my family's symbol type thing…," Al replied, gesturing with his hand in the air. Satisfied with his answer, she leaned against him, sighing happily. All was well.

Naturally, it couldn't stay that way for long. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione thundered down the stairs at lightning speed, panicked looks spread across all of their faces. "What's wrong?" Verity asked them.

"My brother Percy sent his Patronus," Ron panted. "He said- there's been an attack at the Ministry- and Drasen was spotted!"

"So you're going to fight?" Albus asked.

"Exactly," Harry said, whipping out his wand.

"Then we're coming as well," James said. He, Dennis, and Rose had been listening from the doorway of the girls' room.

"No, you're not," Hermione said shrilly. "You are going to stay here and watch Lily and Hugo!"

"But Aunt Hermione-!" Albus protested.

"No buts!" Ginny roared at him. "Listen to us- you **are** going to stay here, you **are **going to look after your sister and cousin, and you **are **going to stay out of trouble, do you hear me?"

Rather scared at this new side of Ginny, they all nodded meekly. "Bye, kids. Remember- we love you and stay out of trouble!" Harry said. Without another word, the four of them turned on the spot and Apparated.

"All right, they're gone!" Verity called. "Come on, Dennis." She and Dennis rushed to their rooms, grabbing their wands.

"Wait- you're going?" Rose demanded.

"Duh!" the twins chorused together, busy getting their stuff ready.

"Then we're coming, too," Albus said.

"No, you're not, Al. You're too valuable- you're Harry Potter's son!" Verity said.

"And you're not? You're valuable to me, which makes you valuable to Drasen!" he protested. "I'm not letting you leave without me!"

"Why not?" she roared.

"Because last time you did, you almost died," he croaked weakly. Her faced softened and nodded in assent.

"Don't think we're missing out on all the action," Rose said. "James and I are coming, whether you like it or not!"

"Fine, but don't die or I won't be able to sleep at night," Dennis said.

"We wanna come too," Lily said. She and Hugo were standing in the living room, looking at James imploringly.

"Sorry, Lil," James said, ruffling her hair lovingly. "But you can't come. Mum and Dad would murder me in my bed if I let you."

"But James-," she started.

"No buts," he cut her off firmly.

"Say, I have a special job for you two," Verity said, thinking quickly. Seeing the eager looks on the twelve year olds' faces, she pressed on. "I need you to stay here and tell watch the house. Don't answer the door for anyone unless they're family, and if someone who you don't trust comes in, Stun them, okay?"

"But Ver- won't we get in trouble if we use magic outside of school?" Hugo asked.

"I'm giving you permission- the Ministry will understand," she said. "Be careful and **don't** come after us!"

"Okay," they chorused, eager to start their new 'job'.

Heading the line in front of the fireplace, Albus turned and surveyed the four other teenagers behind him. "Are you ready?" he whispered to Verity, who was directly behind him. "If your injury's going to get in the way of you fighting properly…"

She grabbed his neck and pulled him towards her, kissing him fiercely. "Albus, I was born ready."

Smiling at her confidence and from her kiss, he grabbed a handful of Floo powder and stepped into the fire. "Ministry of Magic!"

It was a blur of motion for several moments before he finally came to a stop. He fell out of one of the many fireplaces at the Ministry of Magic, soot covering his glasses. He took them off, and wiped the ash off before placing them back on his nose. Now that he could see, he saw Verity, Dennis, Rose, and James looking around for each other. "OI!" he bellowed. Their heads whipped around and upon seeing him, they all rushed over.

"You okay, mate?" Dennis asked him, hauling Albus to his feet.

"Yeah, just brilliant," he muttered. "Where are they?" The hall where they had arrived was completely deserted except for them.

"I don't know," Verity replied, grasping his hand tightly. "They didn't say where the attack was."

"A good place to start would be where Uncle Percy works. He works in the Department of Mysteries," Rose said.

"That's where Harry and the D.A. fought the Death Eaters!" James exclaimed. The five of them sprinted towards the elevator and pressed the button.

"Damn, Al," Dennis said quietly. "Your parents are going to kill us."

"It's worth it," he replied fervently. "I've got a bone to pick with Drasen."

"Oh, no you don't, hero boy," Verity said. "You're not facing off Drasen without the rest of us."

"But my dad-," he protested.

"Drasen scarred Verity just as much as she's scarred you, Al," Dennis pointed out.

"Fine. I promise I won't face Drasen without you all," he said.

The elevator dinged and a synthetic voice said, "Department of Mysteries". They cautiously stepped out of the elevator into the mysterious room. They drew their wands as Verity muttered as many protective charms under her breath over her friends as she could.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU FIVE DOING HERE?" a voice bellowed. Jumping up, they whipped their heads around simultaneously to see who the speaker was. It was Harry. "I told you to stay at home-," he growled. He raised his wand, ready to stun them and send then back to the house when-

"_EXPELLIARMUS!_" Albus yelled. His father's wand flew out of his hand and landed neatly on the floor. "_Accio Harry's wand!_" The wand flew into his hand fluidly. "We're not leaving, Dad. We've got a bone to pick with Drasen."

"B-but you're only fourteen," Harry sputtered.

"Only fourteen?" shrilled Verity. Her eyes were alight as she spoke with so much vindication the silver orbs containing prophecies around them shuddered. "When you were eleven, you took the Sorcerer's Stone from Voldemort. When you were twelve, you destroyed a Horcrux and killed a basilisk. When you were thirteen, you used a Time-Turner and came out sane. When you were fourteen, you witnessed the return of Voldemort and fought him and lived after surviving all three tasks of the Triwizard Tournament! When you were fifteen, you battled Voldemort in this very department and lived through being possessed by him. When you were sixteen, you fought against Death Eaters and survived the cave. When you were seventeen, you and your friends destroyed all the Horcruxes, you sacrificed your own life, and you defeated Voldemort! No disrespect sir, but you can't tell me that age honestly makes a difference! What would've happened if Dumbledore hadn't let you fight because 'you were too young'? None of us would be here right now would we?"

Al and Dennis smiled at each other, sensing that Harry was about to give in. Verity had a knack for saying just the right thing at the right time. "Fine," Harry said. "Just don't get yourselves killed and don't get separated! Stick together!" As he finished saying this, Al gave him back his wand as his father dodged the Cruciactus Curse. Five Death Eaters appeared from around the corner.

"All right. Are you guys ready?" Verity asked her friends.

"In your words, Ver, I was born ready," Albus replied, speaking for all of them.

Aiming her wand at a masked Death Eater, Verity cried, "_Crucio!_" He fell to the floor, writhing in pain. "_Incarcerous! Crucio! Levicorpus!_" Spells were flying all through the Hall of Prophecies, which looked like it had just recovered from the last battle that had been fought there.

"Verity!" Albus and Dennis called. Somehow, both of them found her hands and quickly hauled her out of the way of a falling case of glass orbs.

"Thanks," she panted.

"I wasn't going to let you die," Al said, kissing her quickly.

"This really can't be the time," James pointed out, backing into them. "I mean, can't you two keep a lid on it? _Reducto!_" He was about to cast another curse, when a bolt of red light hit him on the chest, and he was wracked with pain by the Cruciactus Curse.

Angered, Albus shouted, "_SECTUMSEMPRA!_" A Death Eater that had been fighting a blonde boy fell, blood pooling all around him.

The boy turned, and said, "Thanks, Albus!"

"SCORPIUS?" Verity bellowed. "How did you get here?

"Can't explain now," he said. "I'll tell you later. Have you seen my d-." But then-

"_Avada Kedavra!" _


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Don't own Harry. Thanks for all your reviews! Read and review! **

Chapter 17

A green bolt of light came flying towards Harry, his back turned as he dueled another Death Eater. "NO!" Albus called. "DAD, HIT THE DIRT!" Without turning around to see what was going on, Harry fell obediently to the ground, the Killing Curse hitting the Death Eater instead. Coming from nowhere, a green bolt of light missed Albus by an inch, causing Verity to scream shrilly.

"NOT MY SON!" Harry roared. He headed towards the Death Eater who had cast the curse, obviously casting painful nonverbal spells. "Get out!" he yelled at them. Obediently, they scurried away from the Hall, following the sounds of another fight. They found Hermione, Ron, and Ginny dueling two Death Eaters apiece in the same room as-

"Look," Verity said, tugging on her brother's shirt sleeve, "the veil."

"Damn," he whispered. Seeing that Hermione was having trouble keeping up with one of the bulkier Death Eaters, he yelled, "_Sectumsempra!" _

Bewildered, Hermione took a moment to look around the room to see who had saved her. Seeing Dennis, she yelled, "What are **you all** doing here?"

"Don't argue with us, Aunt Hermione," James replied. "Just let us fight!" The next hour or so passed in a blur of motion- spells were cast willy-nilly, ricocheting off of walls and occasionally hitting their intended targets. The mysterious voices behind the veil kept whispering. It was quite unnerving- their voices were always distinct enough to hear, but just too muffled to make out what they were saying.

"Where are all of them coming from?" Ron demanded. "I thought all the Death Eaters were either dead or in Azkaban!"

"They look like they're all the Death Eater's kids, who are now our age," Ginny replied. "I fought a woman who looked strangely like Dolohov… they must've all had kids in secret!"

"The only child of a Death Eater who's not fighting us are-," Verity said.

"Me and my dad," Scorpius said, finishing her sentence for her. He cast a hex at a Death Eater, causing his face to swell up, therefore allowing enough time for Ginny to Stun him.

Suddenly, a great cry rose from an adjoining room as about thirty people rushed through them. Among the recognizable faces were Teddy Lupin, McGonagall, and the retired Slughorn. "How'd you all know to come?" James demanded his cousin, Victoire.

"Lily and Hugo told us," she replied before running off to help Teddy duel.

"Did I mention how much I love those kids?" James asked, blocking the Cruciactus Curse with his unusually strong Shield Charm.

Then as suddenly as Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Ginny had thundered down the stairs what seemed like hours ago, the dueling stopped. No one lowered their wands, but they merely stopped casting spells. "What's going on?" Dennis murmured.

Spotting a familiar face, Albus replied gravely, "Drasen's here." She walked through the crowds and planted herself in front of the veil.

"Resistance is useless," she said, her shrill voice echoing in the eerie silence. "I have overpowered Harry Potter. I am the master of the Elder Wand."

"NO!" Ginny's voice broke the trance, her anguish tangible in the room.

"Don't waste your breath," Drasen said scathingly. "Your precious _love _can't bring him back."

"You're just like your father, aren't you?" Albus said quietly.

"What did you say to me, boy?" she sniped, her eyes finding Albus.

"I said," he said, raising his voice, "You're just like your father, aren't you?"

"And what, may I ask, is wrong with that?"

"Other than the fact that he's pushing up daisies, you mean?" Dennis suggested. Drasen glared at him with hatred burning in her eyes, but said nothing.

"You underestimate love," Al replied simply. "You tried to use it against me in Hogwarts a few weeks ago, and you failed miserably. Because I loved Verity enough to die for her, not only did I protect her, but I didn't die! Maybe if your father had tried for some remorse rather than being a self-centered, ignorant son of a bit-"

"CRUCIO!" Al fell to the floor, writhing in pain. "Don't you dare speak of him like that, you filthy blood traitor!"

"Don't you touch him!" Verity snarled. "_Sectumsempra!" _But Drasen blocked it with a lazy flick of her wand.

"Stupid Mudblood girl," she spat. "You dare to think that you can overpower me?"

"Yes, she quite obviously dares, Drasen. Unless you're as dumb as you look?" James sniped, helping his brother to his feet. "We faced you in Hogwarts and we all came out alive, even Scorpius. Now we've added to our numbers and you still believe you'll defeat us?"

"How _dare _you?" she snarled.

"You sound just like your father," Ron piped up.

"And why shouldn't we dare?" Dennis demanded. "Why should we fear you? None of us fear death, or we'd obviously be at home, eating kippers. You're the only one who fears death, so ignorant you don't realize the true power of love!"

"Shut up, Mudblood!" she growled. "I'm going to kill you all. And your friend, Potter here, will have to watch," she said, indicating Albus. "Before he dies a very slow and painful death, I mean. Who shall be my first victim?" Her eyes landed on Verity, but-

"Don't touch her!" screamed Scorpius.

"You! You're Scorpius Malfoy! Your father is a bigger blood traitor than all the Weasley family put together!" she shrilled. "_Avada Kedavra!_" The bolt of green light hit him squarely in the chest, and he crumpled to the floor, his eyes no longer seeing.

"SCORPIUS!" Draco burst from the crowd and gathered the body of his dead son into his arms. "My son…" Verity was rendered speechless in a mixture of grief, disbelief, and nearly uncontrollable rage.

A strange, respectful silence fell upon them as Draco mourned his fallen son. It was Verity who finally broke it. "The wand isn't any different than your old one, is it Drasen?"

"B-but how did you…?" she sputtered angrily.

"You're after the Hallows, I know," Ver said, surreptitiously hiding her ring behind her back. She was thankful James and Albus had left their Invisibility Cloak at the house- it'd be an absolute nightmare having Drasen and all three Hallows in the same room. "But you didn't overpower the wand's true master."

"Didn't you hear me?" Drasen shrilled.

"Yes, I heard you, unfortunately," Verity replied. "You said you overpowered Harry Potter. But someone beat you to it."

"Who then?" Verity closed her eyes, not answering. Struggling, she broke into Albus' mind. Focusing and testing her abilities, she planted an image in his head… one that could possible save all their lives…

Then, without warning, "_Accio Elder Wand!_" The wand flew obediently from Drasen wand into Albus', unable to go against the will of its new master. Drasen Apparated with a scream of rage, taking all the Death Eaters with her. Another silence fell upon the room, as if wondering what was going to happen now. Suddenly, the doors burst open.

Gasps echoed across the room, and a stampede ensued to reach the new arrival. He was a tall man with jet black hair and emerald green eyes, with a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead: Harry Potter.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Still don't own Harry Potter… Thanks for all your reviews! Read and review please! **

Chapter 18

"DAD! DAD!" Albus and James fought through the crowd to their father, who was holding their mother, rocking her back and forth. He opened his arms, wrapping them in the hug as well. Verity, Dennis, and Rose waited their turns to hug him as well. Before long, Verity had strayed over to Draco, who was still holding the body of his dead son in his arms. Tears forming in her eyes, she kneeled next to her fallen friend.

"He was a good friend, you know," she said quietly, so only Draco could hear. "One of the best."

"He really loved you, you know," Draco choked out through his tears. "I-I'm really sorry- for what I did when I was a kid. I was stupid and Voldemort-."

"It doesn't matter now, Mr. Malfoy. You've made up for it," she replied in a whisper. "I'm going to miss him a lot." She began to sob, the truth of her friend's death hitting her fully at last. As she had when Harry had given her the news of her parents' death, she began to retch. Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around her from behind.

"Shhh, shhh," Dennis said. "It's okay, sis, it's okay." But she could feel hot tears streaming down his own face as he carried her away from the body. She opened her eyes, her vision blurred through her tears. She saw Ron scurry off to attempt to comfort Draco as Dennis laid her on the floor. She felt someone peck her cheek quickly, before calling for help.

"It'll be okay, Ver," said the voice. It was Albus. "Dad!" She heard Harry's footsteps coming towards her. He bent over her and she could feel his hot breath.

"Are you okay, Verity?" he asked. She rustled up enough energy to sit up and shrug her shoulders.

"How did you come back?" she croaked.

"Drasen just put me in a bubble just like the one you described after taking the Elder Wand from me. Lily and Hugo came-," he started.

"Lily and Hugo?" Al said. "We told them to stay home."

"Well, it's a good thing they didn't listen," Verity replied.

"-and then I heard Ginny scream," he finished. "So I came here."

"Drasen was wrong," Ver muttered. "She said love couldn't bring you back. She said she overpowered you, but she let us all think you were dead, to destroy our hope."

"I hear the six of you put up quite a show, before…," Harry said, his voice trailing off, afraid to mention Scorpius' death.

"Ginny screamed, thinking you were dead and that's how you knew where we were…," she said. "She was wrong."

Just then, Ron trotted over, with Draco carrying Scorpius in tow. "His funeral will be Hogwarts in two days' time," Draco said grimly. "He would've wanted that."

Swallowing her tears and sorrow, Verity spoke up, saying, "I'm going to be there." All heads within hearing distance turned her way as she said, "I don't care how, but I want to be there."

"Me too," Al said, grasping her hand tightly. Dennis nodded too. "And Rose and James will want to go, too."

"He would've wanted all his closest friends there," Draco said. "Of course."

"Can we have some time with his body, please? To just… say good-bye?" Verity asked. Draco nodded, handing over the body of his dead son. Everyone but James, Rose, Albus, and Dennis dispersed, leaving the five of them alone, their sixth friend dead in Verity's arms. An idea sprung into her head, but she looked at Albus reluctantly.

Almost as if he could read her mind, he said, "Go ahead. I won't mind. I'll be a bit jealous, but I think he'd have liked that." Verity bent her head down and softly kissed her dead friend's lips, but only briefly.

"I loved him," she sobbed out. "But like another brother." Al gathered her into his arms, Dennis taking the body. They said their good-byes and returned his body to Draco, leaving with a gaping hole that would never again be filled.

Two days later, Verity landed with a crash onto the floor of Headmistress McGonagall's office. "Sorry, Professor," she said, picking herself up off of the floor.

"It's quite all right, Ms. Pierce," McGonagall replied, looking up at her briefly before returning to staring blankly at a piece of paper. Verity walked out of the office and found Al waiting for her just outside the door. He grasped her hand tightly, pulling her into his side as they descended the stairs.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked softly.

"I think so," she replied uncertainly.

"I won't leave you," he promised firmly. "Except to pee." She flashed him a small smile. "You want to meet me after you've changed? Out on the grounds?"

"Sure, Albus. But I'm going to shower, too. This is a secret I've never told anyone," she whispered.

"What?" he asked.

"Dennis and I- if we go a day without a shower- our hair gets really, really oily," she whispered.

"You're kidding," he laughed. "Your hair is perfect, Ver." He kissed it, as if to prove his point.

"No, I'm serious. It's really weird. It's fine if we wash it at least once a day, but if we don't- it's not pretty," she said seriously.

"Oh, uh- I'm sorry?" he said. She laughed.

"It's fine, I just thought I'd let you know," she giggled.

"How come I've never seen it like that?" he asked, searching every inch of his memory, but coming up with a blank.

"Because I haven't gone a day without showering for over nine years," she laughed. They had reached the common room at this point. "I better go get ready. I'll meet you in… forty-five minutes by the oak tree by the lake?" He nodded.

"I can't wait," he told her.

Verity relished the warm water washing over her, relaxing all her muscles. She hummed a bit as she lathered her hair, trying to keep her mind off of the ominously looming funeral. She thought she heard someone whisper her name, but she resumed her showering, washing every trace of the flowery scented shampoo from her hair. She though she heard the whisper again a few minutes later, but she continued to ignore it. As she finally stepped out of the shower dripping wet, she heard it again. This time she was sure. Wrapping herself in a towel and picking up her wand, she demanded, "Who's there?"

"Verity," said the voice again. She looked to her right before she jumped about a foot into the air in shock.

"Scorpius?" she asked. The ghostly figure nodded at her, smiling.

"Ver, it's me. It's Scorpius Malfoy."


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: J.K. Rowling still owns Harry. Thanks for all the reviews! Read and review please! **

Chapter 19

"Scorpius? You're a ghost?" she asked, waving her hand through him. It felt like dunking her hand in a bucket of ice cold water. She withdrew it, relieved to feel warmth in it again.

"Yeah," he said. He looked at her, dripping wet in a towel. "Um, I'm sorry… I didn't know…"

"You heard the shower, you dolt!" she said.

"Okay, I still came anyways… but I couldn't wait to see you, Ver. I miss you," he pouted.

"I miss you too, Scorpius. You have no idea how hard I cried after you died… and this morning…," she told him sadly.

"Um, can we not tell Albus exactly how you found out I'm a ghost?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah I think that'd be a good idea," she laughed. "Well, I've got to change to go to… to your funeral, actually."

"Oh, I see," he said. "I'll let you go then."

"Okay. I'll talk to you later. Look for me- I'll be with Albus, James, and Rose, most likely," she said. He nodded and drifted through the wall. She shuddered, still kind of freaked at the sight of her ghostly friend.

She met Albus by the tree, dressed in a small black dress, her hair tied back in a simple ponytail. She found his leaning against the oak, dressed in a tuxedo, a sad, far away look in his eye. He saw her, his eyes wandering freely up and down her figure. "Wow," he said, his voice husky.

"Thanks," she said. "You look good, too." She hugged him to her tightly, burying her face in his chest, thankful he was still so alive. Wordlessly, he drew her into a fierce kiss, his hands finding her waist so he could close any physical gap between them. She could feel his heart beat through his chest, steady and invariable. She moaned.

Al felt his pulse race, an adrenaline rush flowing through him. He held her in his arms carefully, as if she were fragile, like china. Thinking of how close she had come to death recently, he kissed her with even more passion which she eagerly reciprocated. He wanted to stay that way forever- just him and the girl he loved.

The funeral was a sad affair, as to be expected. Rose, James, Dennis, Albus, and Verity spent most of their time crying. At one point, Verity was crying so heavily that Al feared she was going to start hurling again, but she merely buried her faced in his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her. Rose, whose tears were flowing nearly as heavily as Verity, leaned on Dennis for supported, her body shaking with the force of her sobs. Someone who they didn't know delivered Scorpius' eulogy, but none of them had the heart to let his words ruin their memories…

Afterwards, Verity drew her friends away from the reception and into the Gryffindor common room. "Ver, what could be important enough for us to leave the reception? Not that it was fun to be there," Rose said.

"Rose, you don't value my presence? I'm hurt," said Scorpius' now ghostly figure. Verity grinned in delight as she saw the mingled shock and awe mixed on their faces.

"Scorpius decided to surprise me while I was getting ready for the funeral," she told them.

"Again, sorry for scaring you," he apologized. "So, how was my funeral?" he asked casually.

"That just sounds weird," Albus commented. "It was sad. We cried a lot and your mum and dad were bawling." A look of sorrow passed across his face as he thought of how his parents must be feeling.

"So, you're here? To stay?" James asked.

"Yeah, as a ghost at least. I'll be here whenever you need me," he said. Suddenly, Lily burst through the portrait hole and Scorpius hastily glided through the nearest wall.

"Professor McGonagall wants to see Verity and Dennis in her office immediately," Lily reported.

"Thanks, Lil," Dennis said, ruffling her hair affectionately. The twins quickly climbed through the still open portrait hole. "What do you think McGonagall wants?" he asked Verity as soon as they were alone in the corridors.

"I dunno," she shrugged. "I saw her just before the funeral; you'd think if she had something to say she'd have said it then."

"Licorice wand," said Dennis, giving the stone gargoyle the password. As they ascended the steps to McGongall's office, Verity felt a tingling sensation creeping up her spine.

"Well, whatever she wants," she whispered to her twin brother, "I know it'll be anything but dull." They passed through the doors and found McGonagall waiting for them. "You wanted to see us, Professor?"

"Oh not, it's not me," McGonagall replied. She looked up at one of the many portraits of past headmasters and headmistresses decorating the wall.

"That's Severus Snape, isn't it, Verity? The one Al's named after?" Dennis asked.

She was about to respond, when Snape's portrait said, "I can hear you, Mr. Pierce."

"Oh, sorry," he said, a sheepish expression spreading across his face at being reprimanded by a portrait.

"You wanted to see us, Professor Snape?" Verity said, attempting to cover her brother's lack of manners.

"Actually, yes," he drawled. "I couldn't help wondering when I saw you two fall out of the fireplace earlier… is your mother's name Mary?"

"Was," Dennis corrected him sadly. "Our mother's name was Mary Pierce."

"You see," Snape said, failing to apologize, "my mother's name was Eileen Prince. She had a younger Squib sister named Mary, my family's hidden shame." Dennis started to growl, but one glance from his sister shut him up. "This Mary went on to marry a certain Muggle named Toby Pierce, I believe."

"That's quite impossible… our mother didn't know about magic!" Verity protested.

"But Ver…" Dennis said. "She always told us our eleventh birthday would be more special than any other, except for our seventeenth… and she wouldn't let us leave the house on our eleventh birthday until the mail had come."

"So we're your… cousins?" Verity spluttered.

"It would seem so," he drawled in reply.

"That would explain our greasy hair!" Dennis and Verity exclaimed to each other at the same time.

"Excuse me?" Snape demanded.

"Oh, sorry," Verity apologized, blushing furiously.

"You may go now," McGonagall said in dismissal. They turned to leave, but-

"One more thing," Snape's portrait said. Verity and Dennis whipped around, eager to hear what he had to say. "You two take your Potter and Weasley friends to see Professor Trelawny. I have a feeling she may have something to say to you that would behoove you to hear."


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: J.K. still owns Harry, even if she's done with the series… sniff, sniff Thanks for all the reviews, they definitely keep me going! Read and review! **

Chapter 20

"So you're related to Severus Snape?" Albus asked them incredulously once the twins had finished relating their story to James, Albus, and Rose.

"Yeah, yeah, we are," Verity said, sharing a secret grin with Al. He nodded as he sniggered quietly, making the link between Snape and the twins' greasy hair condition. "He said something else, too," she added, taking in a deep breath.

"What?" Rose demanded, about to slip off the edge of Dennis' bed.

"First things first, Rose, you're about to-," Verity said, but then-

"SHIT!" Rose exclaimed as she fell off of the bed and landed butt-first onto the floor.

"Oh my God, Rose, are you okay?" Dennis asked, grasping her hand tightly and helping her up like a gentleman. Rose blushed as Ver winked at her surreptitiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied coolly, resuming her seat next to Dennis on his bed once again.

"Anyway, Snape said to take you all," Verity said, gesturing to James, Albus, and Rose, "too see Professor Trelawny. He said he had a feeling she'd have something to say that would behoove us to hear."

James sniggered. "Did he actually say behoove?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Dennis said. "But can we focus here? My sister and I have a big problem!"

"You do?" Albus asked.

"We do?" said Verity.

"Hell yes, we do!" Den said. "We're related to the man who runs at the sight of a bottle of shampoo, sis! We're cursed with greasy hair!" The five of them burst out laughing.

"Dennis," Verity said, choking on her own laughter, "our hair only gets greasy if we don't wash it at least once a day, you idiot! Now, seriously- when are we going to go see Trelawny?"

"I dunno. She's the same woman who made the prophecy about Dad and Voldemort, right?" James said.

"Yeah, that's right," Dennis told him. "Your dad also said she's only right when she goes into a trance."

"Well, why don't we go now?" Rose suggested. "It's only about eight o' clock."

"Sounds fine with me," Albus said. With that, the five of them set off for the Divination Tower.

"Professor Trelawny?" Rose said, looking around the apparently barren office. The others had elected her to go ahead of them, which was oddly fitting because she was Trelawny's best student in their year.

"Yes, my dear?" Trelawny said, popping up unexpectedly from behind a table.

"We j-just came to…," Rose stuttered, her voice faltering as she looked at Verity in a plea for help.

"We just came to have tea with our favorite professor," Verity said smoothly.

"That's laying it a bit on the thick, isn't it?" Al muttered in her ear. Upon seeing Verity and Dennis, Trelawny's face went blank, her eyes became unfocused. She made a grab for the nearest twin, which happened to be Dennis, seizing him by the front of his shirt and pulling him towards her.

"A little help here?" he pleaded. But they fell silent as Trelawny began to rasp:

_THE BLOOD CARRIES THE LEGACY _

_THE BLOOD CARRIES THE LEGACY _

_AND WAR ERUPTS ONCE MORE_

_TO CARRY THE BLOOD IS TO CARRY THE WAR _

_TO SPILL THE BLOOD IS TO SPILL THE WAR _

_ROYALTY UNITE AGAINST THEIR COMMON ENEMY _

_SIDES WILL BE CHOSEN- FOR ETERNITY! _

They remained silent as Trelawny snapped out of her trance. Dennis stood there, her hands still grasping his shirt front, his mouth open wide enough to swallow small cat. "What kind of scones did you say you liked, dear?" demanded Trelawny.

"Okay, that," Albus said, "was freaky."

"I've got it written down now," Dennis said. He handed Albus a piece of paper filled with unintelligible chicken scratch.

"Dennis, I can't read this shit," he said. "Verity, can you decipher your brother's attempt at writing?"

"Who do you think rewrites all his homework?" she asked, taking the piece of paper from him. "Okay, it says here, 'The blood carries the legacy'. Well, that's obvious, isn't it? Because of our heritage, we're the ones stuck fighting Drasen, who's carrying on her own legacy." Nods all around. "Okay, 'The blood carries the legacy/ The blood carries the legacy/ And war erupts once more/ To carry the blood is to carry the war/ To spill the blood is to spill the war/ Royalty unite against their common enemy/ Sides will be chosen- for eternity'."

"Well, most of it is more of the same," Rose said. "Blood basically equals legacy. The only line that really jumps out at me is 'Royalty unite against their common enemy'. There is no royalty in the wizarding world, so who could it refer to?"

"I dunno… this is making my brain hurt," James said, rubbing his temples with his fingers.

"Look, it's getting late," Albus said. "Why don't you guys go to sleep and Ver and I will try to work it out for a while, eh?"

"Fine. But I doubt you'll get much done," Rose said.

"Why do you say that?" Ver demanded.

"You'll be too busy snogging," she winked back.

As soon as they were gone, the two of them dutifully bent over the piece of paper, Verity rewriting the prophecy on the other side so Albus could read it as well. "There's something strange about this line, too. Look- 'To spill the blood is to spill the war'. Spill the war doesn't really make sense," Al said.

"You could have something there," Verity said, nibbling on her quill thoughtfully. "That doesn't quite fit. That and the royalty line are the only two that I don't get."

"Yeah, same here," he yawned. He looked around. The common room was empty.

"You know," Verity said, looking at him, "the room's empty. We obviously won't figure this out tonight. Why don't we…?" He wordlessly captured her lips with his, answering her question. Several long moments passed before they finally broke apart. She leaned her head on his chest, sighing happily, enjoying the quiet of the moment. Suddenly, a loud cracked echoed through the room.

"KREACHER?"


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: I DON'T OWN HARRY! Thanks for all your reviews! Um, I'm not sure how many more chapters I'm going to do, but the ideas keep flowing with my plot line so I have ABSOLUTELY no idea! Read and review please! **

Chapter 21

"What the hell are you doing here?" Albus demanded of the house elf.

"Master Harry sent me here, Master Albus," Kreacher replied.

"Um… why?"

"Master Harry did not say. He only said that he has already alerted Headmistress McGonagall that you and all your friends are to come to the Potter residence," Kreacher croaked.

"Well… ok," he said. Verity headed up to the dorms to round up  
Rose, James, and Dennis.

When all five of them were waiting in the common room with Kreacher, Verity asked, "Kreacher? How are we going to get there?"

"You will hold on to Kreacher, Miss Pierce," he replied. The five of them grabbed hold of Kreacher's rags, seeing as he refused to wear any piece of clothing any of the Potters offered him. The house-elf snapped his fingers and without warning, extreme pressure bombarded the teenagers, who were starting to feel like they were being compressed together. When the strange feeling stopped, Rose was the first to open her eyes. They had been dumped on the grass outside of the Potters' house. They picked themselves up and started walking towards the front door. "Kreacher is sorry about the landing."

"Why didn't we just go inside the house, Kreacher?" James asked.

"It would be rude to intrude upon the residence without warning; it is a common courtesy to give the wizards and witches inside a chance to defend themselves, if necessary," Kreacher replied. He knocked the on the front door, which was quickly answered by Ginny.

"Come in, come in," she said, ushering the six or them inside the house rapidly, as if she were afraid something would happen if they waited outside for too long. "Have a seat in the living room, Harry's finishing up in the bathroom." James, Albus, Verity, Dennis, and Rose took seats on their couch, Albus wrapping his arm around Verity's waist, and pulling her onto his lap.

"Ginny! Did you have to tell them that?" Harry bellowed from the downstairs restroom. Albus and James looked at each other, embarrassed.

"I love your dad," Dennis sniggered. Then, seeing his sister sit on his best friend's lap, he said, "And say hello to 'Couple of the Century'."

"Just because you don't have a girlfriend, Dennis…," Verity sniped back.

"Well, I could," Dennis said in the form of a weak retort.

"Yeah, that's right, bro- you could, but you're just too damn blind to see it," she told him, frustration creeping into her voice. Rose emitted a small squeak.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked his sister, his blue eyes looking at her inquisitively.

"I think somewhere deep, deep down you know," she replied quietly. "You're just too thick to comprehend it."

Albus sensed that both of the twins were getting more and more agitated and that a sibling grudge match wasn't out of the question if something didn't change soon. Once, Verity and Dennis had gotten so annoyed with each other that they had a full blown duel until they ended up wrestling and laughing their heads off about how stupid they were being. Al pulled Verity back against him gently, his lips brushing the side of her cheek. "Forget it, Ver," he whispered soothingly. He heard her exhale a deep breath as she relaxed against him. Dennis leaned back into the couch and flashed his sister a small, hesitant smile. She returned it and they both stood down.

Harry finally emerged from the bathroom and took a seat in the recliner opposite the couch. "You'll probably wondering why I brought you here," he said.

"Just a bit, yeah, Dad," James said.

"So after recent events, namely Drasen's attacks on you and the Ministry," Harry said, "I was cleaning my room-"

"After attacks you were cleaning your room?" Dennis asked.

"Can you shut up and let the man finish, Dennis?" Verity demanded of her twin.

"And I found this," Harry said, handing over a blank piece of parchment to Albus, who reached around Verity to get it. Harry pointedly ignored the fact that his youngest son had a teenage girl sitting in his lap, but he caught Verity's eye and winked at her all the same.

"You found an old piece of parchment," Albus said, looking at the thing.

"Do any of you remember when I told you about the Maruader's Map?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Verity said eagerly. She took the piece of parchment from Al's hands, and tapped it with her wand, saying, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." The map came to life, dots scattered all over the place, showing the location of each and every person within the grounds of Hogwarts.

"Wicked awesome!" Al said, craning his neck over his girlfriend's to get a good look at it.

As they passed it around, Harry said, "It'll be a good tool to keep an eye on everything going on in Hogwarts; if Drasen comes back to Hogwarts looking for you, you should be able to see it on the map."

"Thank you so much, Uncle Harry!" Rose squeaked, hugging her uncle tightly,

"No problem, no worries," Harry laughed.

Harry and Ginny had insisted on them staying the night before returned to Hogwarts the following day by lunchtime. Before Verity changed into nightclothes that had once been Ginny's, she sought out Harry. "Um… Mr. Potter?" she said.

He turned his head quickly, his green eyes (which reminded her a lot of Albus) searching the room. "Oh, it's you, Verity. What is it?" he asked.

"I, uh… I hope you're okay with, you know, Albus and me…," she said, her voice trailing off in uncertainty.

"Don't worry, Verity- there's no one else Ginny and I would rather have our youngest son date- it's just kind of strange to see him growing up so fast… sorry if I seemed kind of strange when I saw you sitting on his lap, I'm just not used to it… I'm happy for you two- really," he replied.

"Thanks, Mr. Potter. And Al's not the only one with protective relatives. Personally, I'm surprised Dennis doesn't pat him down every time he touches me," she laughed. Harry sniggered.

"I trust you, Verity. I know you would never pressure him to do anything he didn't want to, relationship wise, and I know you're too strong of a character to give in to any pressure he may put on you. I trust Albus, I always have, but… he is a teenage boy, and I remember what it was like…," he said.

"Thanks again," Verity said, her heart lifting considerably. She turned to leave, but a thought struck her and she whipped around. "Mr. Potter?"

"Yeah, Ver?" he said, looking up from a letter he was reading.

"Mr. Potter," she said slowly, "what do you know about prophecies?"


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Still don't own Harry. Thanks for all your reviews! Enjoy these next few chappies, because you'll learn a lot about each of the characters. Read and review! **

Chapter 22

"That's a very interesting prophecy," Harry mused, reading over the version Verity had written. "Tell you what- give me some time, I don't know how much, and maybe I can rustle up alternate meanings for you, eh?"

"Thanks, Mr. Potter," Verity said eagerly. I think I'm just going to go change now."

"All right," Harry replied, still staring at the piece of parchment. Verity quietly crept up to the room she was sharing with Rose and began digging the drawers for something old of Ginny's to wear to bed. She found sleepwear pants and a tank top, which she quickly threw on. However, she also found a picture of-

"-my parents," she sobbed. Rose was comforting her sobbing friend, who had grown hysterical at seeing the picture and finally realizing that they were gone forever.

"Shhhh," she whispered. "It's going to be okay, I'm here for you, just remember that…" Just then, Albus, James, and Dennis came stumbling into the room.

"What's going on?" James asked, yawning sleepily.

"She found this," Rose whispered back, handing Dennis the picture of his parents. It had been taken with a magical camera, and they were waving happily at him. They were at the local park, having a walk like they loved to do so much. He felt tears streaming in his eyes, and soon both the twins were hugging each other, bawling like little babies about their dead parents. Somehow, Scorpius came into the fragmented conversation and even Albus, James, and Rose were sobbing heavily as well.

At the sound of all the commotion, Ginny came running up the stairs and burst into the room without knocking. "What's going on here?" she asked, seeing all of them crying.

James, who at the moment was the most composed out of all of them, replied, "Verity found a picture of her parents and started crying, then so did Dennis and then we all thought about Scorpius and…" he managed to choke out through his tears. He wiped them away furiously with his sleeve.

"Okay. You all are having a meltdown. That's understandable. But I have an idea," she said.

"So you've all put the memories you want to share in the vials?" Harry asked. Nods all around was the reply. "Gin and I are going to leave you- just explore each other's memories, okay? It won't take the pain away, but I promise that it'll help a bit. Okay?" They nodded again, Rose and Verity still sniffling a bit. As promised, Ginny and Harry left, leaving the five of them alone.

"So," Dennis said weakly, "who wants to go first?"

Piping up bravely, Rose said, "I will." She uncorked the vial containing the silvery fluid that was her memory. She poured its contents into the Pensieve that Harry had left for them on the coffee table. Together, they were sucked into her memory.

_"Daddy!" Rose squealed. She was about six years old. Her bushy red hair was tied back in a ponytail that bounced with the sheer amount of her little kid energy. Ron had his back turned to her and he seemed to be yelling at someone. _

_"What were you thinking, letting Rose use your wand, Ronald?" Hermione screamed at him. She was furious: her brown eyes held no friendly warmth and her face was beet red. _

_"I thought I might let the kid have a little fun in her life, Hermione! If it was left up to you, she'd never touch a magical object 'til she came of age!" he screamed back. He was equally furious as his wife. _

_"Daddy!" Rose piped up again. _

_Whipping around to face her, Ron bellowed, "Not now!" She had his wand in her hand, which was emitting red and gold sparks. He snatched it from her, the force of his grab knocking her to the floor… _

_She began to cry, and her parents completely ignored her, too wrapped up in their own worlds to pay any attention to their bawling daughter. The four year old version of Hugo toddled over, saying, "What's wong, Wosie?" She didn't reply, she just kept crying. _

_"Leave me alone!" she said shrilly, running up the stairs and into her room. _

_"But Wosie!" _

The memory faded and they were back in the Potters' living room. "Rose, I- I never knew," Albus said after several moments of awkward silence.

"I don't want to talk," Rose said. "Just know this- I love my parents and they love me, I know that. That memory puts a bad light on it. But when they fight… everyone suffers and they don't realize that."

"Okay… I'll go next," James offered, tipping the contents of his vial into the Pensieve.

_A twelve year old version of James sitting in his four-poster bed in his dorm, crying. "I hate Quidditch," he muttered to himself. "Stupid captain… wouldn't let me on the team just because I let every goal through… everyone expects me to be good at it, just because Dad was… I'm no good at Quidditch. I can't even ride a broom without falling off… I'm just a failure." He sniffed, rubbing his eyes with his hands. _

_"I heard about how you crashed and burned at the tryouts," said a boy with beach blonde hair as he entered the dorm. _

_"Shut up, Tyson," James snapped. "You weren't there?" _

_"No, I had detention with Slughorn… I swear, he hates me…," Tyson replied, grinning like a moron. _

_"That's because you fall asleep in every Potions class, you prat," James spat at him. _

_"I wish I had been at the tryouts- so I could tell everyone that I finally saw a tree frog on a broomstick," Tyson laughed. The scene swirled around them as it changed… _

_"James you can't play Quidditch? Both your parents could. What's happened, did you dive into the wrong end of the gene pool, if you know what I mean?" sniggered Norman, one of Tyson's idiot friends. _

_"What about you, Norman? You got your dad's good looks and your mother's charm, but you didn't get any brains," James sniped back. But as he turned back towards his oatmeal, you could see the crushed look on his face…_

They were in the living room again. "I didn't make the Quidditch team, which really sucked because everyone expected me to be good at it because Dad was and so was Grandpa Potter, when he was alive. It doesn't bother me much anymore, but I still don't like talking about Quidditch much. Or going to games," James said.

"I'll go next," Albus said, his voice shaking as he poured his memories into the bowl. They were sucked into the memory…

_Verity lying on the floor, her blue eyes no longer seeing- dead. _


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Don't own Harry… Thanks for your reviews! Enjoy the next chapter. Read and review please! **

Chapter 23

_Verity lay on the floor, very still in death. "NO!" bellowed an unseen voice. Drasen stood over the body, her cold, cruel laugh echoing the dungeons… Dennis could be seen kneeling over his sister's corpse, his body shaking with forceful sobs as he cried a river, tears dripping off of his face and onto the floor. "Not her… not Verity… no… no!" _

_"She's gone," Dennis whimpered, like a wounded animal. "You'll pay for this, bitch."_

The memory faded as they all found themselves back in the living room. "When did that ever happen?" Rose demanded, perhaps too suddenly for her cousin, who remained silent.

"That was the dream you had, wasn't it, Albus? The nightmare that I woke you from where you said Drasen killed me?" Verity asked softly.

"Yeah," he replied in a faint whisper. "I have it again about once every week or so. It gets worse every time…"

"You want to go next, Ver?" Dennis asked his twin. She shook her head furiously.

"I think you know which memories I'm going to share, and I want to go last," she said firmly.

Dennis' face paled and his expression tightened. "All right then." He poured his memories into the Pensieve and they took a trip down his memory lane…

_Eight year old models of Verity and Dennis were hiding together behind a couch, listening intently to the guest at the door. "I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Pierce, but if you can't afford to provide for your children, we'll have to take them away from you," the man was saying. _

_"You can't take them away!" protested Mary Prince- Pierce. "How could that possible be best for them, taking them away from the only family they've ever known?" _

_"If you can't even afford to feed them every day, then they obviously are being deprived of a normal childhood," the man said. _

_"A normal childhood!" exploded Toby Pierce. "Normal? In the care of social workers? Not likely!" _

_"The reality of the situation is this- if you don't clean up your act by this time next year, your children will be taken by social services and placed in the care of someone who can. Good day," said the stranger, leaving. Verity and Dennis rushed off before their parents could spot them leaving the living area. _

_"Dennis, what are we going to do? We can't leave Mum and Dad, we just can't!" panicked the eight year old Verity. _

_"I don't know, Ver," Dennis said, sounding rather like he was on helium. "Maybe if we let them keep our allowances instead of giving them to us…" _

_"That won't be enough, Den," Ver cried. She threw her arms around him. "I can't leave Mum and Dad… and I really can't leave you, we're twins!" _

_"I know, we're not supposed to be separated, sis," he said. _

"What happened?" James croaked out, back in the living room.

"We were taken away… for only a few months, though. Our parents' friends and relatives helped them find jobs and rustle up enough money to get us back. We were in a foster home from February to August, though," Dennis replied. "Sis… you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Verity said, sounding thoroughly shaken. She tipped the contents of her vial into the Pensieve…

_"Verity! Verity, open up!" Someone was banging on the door of the bathroom. Verity was standing in front of the mirror, her eyes bloodred and her face still wet with tears. _

_"Go away, Dennis!" she screamed. She seemed to cry even harder as she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. She looked as though she hadn't slept in weeks. Sucking in a deep breath, Verity was holding a knife in her hand, the blade hovering just above her wrist, reading to slit it. _

_"I know what you're planning to do, Ver! No dream is worth it, Verity!" Dennis yelled through the door. _

_"Dennis, it's driving me crazy! I just know it's going to come true, I just know it and I can't bear to think of it!" she yelled in reply. "Mum and Dad aren't home… you can't perform magic outside of Hogwarts… you can't stop me, Dennis!" _

_"Verity, we're only thirteen! We're going to start our third year at Hogwarts next month, Ver!" Dennis said desperately. "It was five years ago, Ver! Five years ago you had that dream in the foster home! Remember what we said about us, huh? We're twins, we're not supposed to be separated? How much further apart could you get than death!" She didn't reply, but her hand holding the blade quivered. "Think of Mum and Dad… what will they do when they come home and find you dead? What about Albus? James? Scorpius? Rose? How am I supposed to go back to Hogwarts in September and tell them you're dead? They'll be crushed! Ver, you'd never forgive yourself for doing this!" _

_Sobbing harder than ever, she dropped the blade into the sink and threw open the door. She threw herself at her brother, who began to cry as well, holding her tightly. "Promise me," he demanded through his tears, "promise me you'll never kill yourself." _

_"I promise," she sobbed out. "I promise, Dennis, I promise." _

Verity was now sobbing heavily onto her brother's shoulder, who looked equally tearful. "Ver… why?" Albus asked quietly. She regained enough of her composure to speak.

She said, "You have to understand… when we were in foster care, we were both miserable, depressed even. While we were there… I had a dream. I dreamed that I was alone and Dennis, our mum and dad, and four other people I didn't know were around me… dead. It drove me crazy, especially because we came to Hogwarts the four other people were you, James, Rose, and Scorpius. That's why we talked to you the first night. We were curious; after that first night, you were our best friend- us being friends with you had nothing to do with my dream. I was so depressed at the thought that I'd lose you all that I- I planned to commit suicide." She looked ashamed.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Verity," Rose said.

"She's right, you know," James added. "We all have weaknesses… you overcame yours because of your love for us and that proves your strength."

"I'm glad Dennis stopped me anyways," she said, cheering a bit.

"So am I," Albus said, finally speaking up for the first time since asking Verity why she wanted to kill herself.

She stood up, pulling him out the door behind her by his hand, feeling that the situation called for them to talk- alone.

"I still don't get how that helped us," Rose told her aunt that night at dinner. Due to their adventures with the Pensieve, Harry and Ginny had decided to delay their return to Hogwarts by another night. "It made us cry even more, Aunt Ginny."

"Yes, but you shared some of your deepest, darkest, worst memories with each other," she pointed out. "Now you'll trust each other and you won't let your emotions build up like that ever again."

"You're right," Verity said, chewing on her steak thoughtfully. "Plus, it was therapeutic to cry." Al squeezed her hand under the table.

"We better really go back tomorrow," James said. "We're spending half this year fighting like we're of age and the other half bawling like babies."


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: I STILL don't own Harry Potter, and I don't get the impression that that's going to change any time soon. Thanks for all your reviews! Enjoy this next chapter and I still have no clue as to how many more I'll write, because the ideas just keep coming and coming! Read and review! **

Chapter 24

Albus grinned deliriously into his mug of hot chocolate, thinking happily about the time he and Verity had spent on the grounds earlier that day.

_"I'm just glad you're okay now," he said. They were near the oak tree near the bank of the lake. Verity was laying on the grass on her back, Albus on top her, grinning happily. _

_"So am I," she agreed, kissing him briefly. "I just hope Rose is doing okay…" _

_"Yeah, I never knew her home life was that rough," Al said thoughtfully. "That's not how I imagine you and me in twenty years..." he paused, seeing her eyebrows raised at him. "What? You don't think we'll end up married?" _

_"Oh," she laughed. "I looked at you like that because it's usually not the boy in the relationship who brings up commitment first, especially at fourteen. I just thought it was a bit odd, that's all." _

_"Well, it's not like we lead normal lives, now is it?" he chortled. _

_"True," she said. "Honestly, Al- we're fourteen: a lot could change. But if I could choose how the future pans out, I'd definitely choose to be married to you." He grinned at her, deliriously happy. He bent down and kissed her, full of excitement, wondering how on earth she was making him love her even more. _

"Albus? Albus!" Albus returned to the present with a jump, part of him mind still back on the grounds with Verity. "What's wrong with you, mate? You've been staring into your hot chocolate for the past five minutes," Dennis demanded.

"Oh, it's nothing," he replied hastily, sipping from his mug.

"You were thinking about my sister again, weren't you?" Dennis grinned.

"Well... yeah," he grudgingly admitted. "Today we were-"

"Don't," he said sharply, "tell me what you were doing; I'm probably better off not knowing. Though I am happy for the both of you and I support this relationship wholeheartedly, I am still her brother, and it's kind of weird to hear someone describe snogging her."

"Whatever, mate," Albus said, smiling at his friend. "So… when are you going to hook up with Rose?"

"What?" Dennis demanded, knocking over his ink so that it spilled all over the parchment. Sighing, Albus took it from him and siphoned the ink off with his wand.

"You heard me," he replied as he did so.

"I heard you fine," Dennis said. "But why would I hook up with Rose?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Al asked. "She's fancied you the whole school year, mate." He shook his head at his friend's ignorance. "Poor, ignorant Dennis- what would you do without me?" he said.

"I'd ask Verity for help," Dennis sniped back. "Not that I need it- I know tons about girls."

"You've never even had a girlfriend," Albus laughed. "Look, I'm sure Verity knows that Rose fancies you, but she's got her reasons for not telling."

"Smart girl, my sister," Dennis muttered. "I take these things a lot better from my mates than my sister."

"See?" Al said triumphantly. Just then Rose walked in through the portrait hole, accompanied by Verity. Dennis hastily stuck his head in his bag, pretending to be looking for a textbook, which did not go unnoticed by his sister. She shot a questioning look at Albus, who nodded.

Verity seemed to tense up a bit before saying, "Come on, Rose. I need to talk you." Turning around to face the boys, she added, "Girl stuff. You wouldn't understand."

As soon as he was sure the girls were out of earshot, Albus sniggered, "What was that, mate?"

"I dunno," Dennis blushed. "I j-just… jumped when she walked in like that."

"So?" Albus asked.

"So what?"

"Do you fancy her?" he demanded.

"Does who fancy who?" James asked, coming down the stairs from the boys' dormitory.

"I'm asking Dennis if he fancies Rose," Al replied.

"Must you muck about, telling everyone my personal life?" Dennis demanded, blushing harder than before, if possible.

"Oh, Dennis, Dennis, Dennis," James chuckled, patting his friend on the back heartily. "You still have much to learn about the female mind."

"I know plenty about the female mind, thanks," he mumbled back.

"Living with your sister doesn't count," Al reprimanded.

"How can you say that? You're dating her!" Dennis yelped.

"Yeah, and she's a great girl," Albus grinned. "But she doesn't act the same way around you as she does me. She even started acting a bit different since we started dating. Not by much, really, just the stuff that comes with dating."

"You see," James told him, "you and Ver are twins, so naturally, you're very close. But she's obviously not going to act like she does with Albus with you."

"I guess so," Dennis admitted.

"But if you asked her for her help," Al added eagerly, "I'm sure she'd give it." A loud shriek unexpectedly rang from the girls' dormitory.

Dennis brushed it away, saying, "Girl stuff."

"So do you fancy our cousin?" James asked, trying to sound casual.

"I dunno," Dennis shrugged. "I think I do but I dunno how to go about it…" Albus sniggered. "What are you laughing at? If James hadn't put the two of you under mistletoe, it'd have been ages before you made a move on my sister. Even after you kissed, you didn't have the courage to bring it up 'til she nearly bit your head off!"

"All true," Albus admitted, holding his hands up in surrender. "But I'm just saying- ask Verity for help."

"I will," Dennis vowed. "Next time I'm alone with my sister, I swear I'll ask her for help with girls."

"Speak of the devil," James muttered as Verity and Rose came bounding into the common room, looking excited.

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Dennis asked.

"She's done it!" Verity cried, her eyes glowing with excitement while she pointed at Rose, jumping up and down. Rose merely blushed furiously.

"Done what?" Albus asked. "Finally succeeded in giving you so much sugar your brain implodes?"

"Very funny, Al," she said sarcastically. "Not that."

"What then?" James asked.

"Rose has done it! She's cracked the prophecy!"


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Still don't own Harry. Thanks for all your reviews! Read and review please! **

Chapter 25

"Okay, let's go through it line by line," Rose said. "'The blood carries the legacy/ The blood carries the legacy'. That's quite obvious, it means that if you carry the blood of someone who fought during the last war, you carry the legacy and keep fighting. Everyone following so far?"

"Yeah," Dennis nodded, "it's at too simple a level to lose my train of thought just yet."

"The next line is: 'And war erupts once more'. That's pretty self-explanatory," Rose said. Nods all around. "'To carry the blood is to carry the war/ To spill the blood is to spill the war'. The first line is pretty obvious- it's pretty much the same as the first two lines. The second line is more cryptic- 'spill the war' doesn't quite make sense. So I think we're looking at literally spilling blood would spill the war… in some magical sort of way."

"But people have already been killed? What about Scorpius? Drasen even used 'Sectumsempra' on him," James said.

"True. But he was killed by the Killing Curse, so no blood was spilled. And I think it only makes a difference if he died due to blood spilling, not from a wound that was later healed. We don't even know if it refers to killing, so…," Rose said. "Moving on. 'Royalty unite against their common enemy'. Now, Dennis and Verity are related to Snape, right?"

"Yeah," Dennis affirmed.

"Well, his mother's maiden name was Prince," she said, grinning widely.

"And Snape called himself the Half-Blood Prince," Verity added.

"So it refers to us?" Dennis asked, beaming at his sister.

"Not just you," Rose said, clearing her throat. "Harry Potter is the Master of Death, correct?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, he **reigns **over death," she said.

"Like a king…," Albus said slowly. "Which is royalty…"

"So the Princes and Potters unite against their common enemy- Drasen?" James asked, his voice rising with excitement.

"I believe that's what its meant to mean, yes," Rose said. "Okay, the last line- 'Sides are chosen- for eternity'. I think this is pretty simple as well. The side your family chooses now will be the side your descendants choose. For instance, the Malfoys switched sides, and if they choose the side of the Order this go-round, it'll be permanent. And that's it."

"You," Dennis said, pointing his finger at Rose, "are amazing." She beamed, looking pleased with herself.

"This is brilliant," Verity grinned. "Do you want me to grab the mirror for you, Al?" He nodded, and she set off, trotting up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. She was rummaging around in Albus' trunk, when the ghostly figure of Scorpius surprised her.

"Verity, this is important," he said hurriedly.

"What is it, Scor?" she asked. "I'm kind of in a hurry; we have to talk to Harry as soon as possibly possible."

"Well, I had a vision just before I died," he said.

She found the mirror, holding it up and exclaiming, "Aha!" Turning to him, she said, "Sorry, Scorpius, but I've got to go."

"NO!" he bellowed. She looked at him, shocked. "Sorry, Verity, but this is important too. I saw you and your brother and Albus going through the veil in the Department of Mysteries."

"Why? Were we dead?" she inquired.

"I dunno why, but you weren't dead, that I know," he shrugged. "But I saw it. I have no clue what it means, Verity, but I think it's important."

"Thanks, Scorpius. Sorry, I didn't listen to you," she said. "I'll talk to you later." She scurried down the stairs and handed the mirror to Albus.

"Dad? Dad?" he said into it. No response came. "Dad? Mum? Is anyone there?" Suddenly, a cold, cruel laugh echoed as Drasen's face appeared in the mirror.

"Come and get me," she shrieked. She disappeared as quickly as she had come, leaving them in a stunned silence.

"Aw, hell no," Dennis finally yelped. "This is totally ridiculous! They could be anywhere by now!"

"The Department of Mysteries," Albus said quietly.

"Why would they be there?" Verity asked him.

"There's something they want. Dad and I agreed to leave the Elder Wand with Uncle Percy that night. Drasen must've figured it out," he replied.

"Damn it," Verity breathed. "Well, we've got to go."

"But then we're just walking right into her trap!" James protested.

"I've got… business to attend to. Dennis should come with me; we do better magic together," she said.

"I'll stay here and round up troops first before coming," Rose said. "Both James and Albus shouldn't be in the same place." She looked at the brothers. Verity opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it and decided to let them work it out on their own.

"Go," James said harshly.

"What? Don't you want to?" Al asked his brother, shocked.

"I know there's no way I'm getting you to leave Verity again," James said, his voice softer now. "Go."

"Okay," Al said meekly. Dennis summoned some Floo powder from his trunk, and in three flashes of flame from the Gryffindor fireplace, they were gone.

Dennis, Verity, and Albus arrived to find the Department of Mysteries in shambles. The Death Eaters had obviously been looking for the Elder Wand. "They've been here," Albus breathed, grasping Verity's hand tightly. He brought it to his lips, kissing it gently. She squeezed it, attempting to reassure him. They came to the room with the veil. It was totally empty.

"If they're here," Dennis said, "where the hell are they?"

"I dunno," Albus said. "Any ideas, Ver?"

"They could be planning an ambush," she mused aloud, "Or maybe they already left."

"They've got my dad," Al said, his voice starting to sound a bit panicked. "They're not going to leave without us, Verity. She knows **I'm **the master of the Elder Wand."

"True," she admitted. "It was just an idea."

Suddenly, footsteps echoed in the next room, accompanied by voices. "Death Eaters!" Dennis hissed. "Any ideas now, Verity?"

Scorpius' words echoing in her mind, she replied, "Just one." She grabbed the boys by the hand and dragged them through the veil, the ghostly whispering engulfing them.


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Still don't own Harry… I'm still clueless as to how long I'm going to keep this fic going. I obviously can't do it forever, especially because school starts in less than a month for me and my life will turn hectic. But this is definitely NOT the last chapter. Thanks for all your review! Read and review please! **

Chapter 26

"What the hell are you doing?" Dennis demanded of his sister.

"I dunno," she replied. The three of them found themselves in an empty room, the whisperings gone. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure…," Albus said, still holding on tightly to Verity's hand, as if it tethered the both of them to life. "But it looks like King's Cross Station."

"You're right," she breathed. "It does."

"Well, well, well- what have we here?" demanded a drawling voice from behind them. They whipped around to face the owner of the voice.

"Severus Snape?" Albus asked.

Snape's face twisted into shock upon seeing Al's face. "Harry Potter?" he spat.

"He's not Harry," Verity told her cousin. "Harry's his dad. He's Albus Severus Potter." Snape said nothing, but his face twisted into an expression mixed with fury and confusion.

"Why," Dennis said, finally plucking up his Gryffindor courage, "are we here?"

"Ah, the eternal question," said yet another voice. The found themselves face to face with Albus Dumbledore as well.

"Albus Dumbledore?" Verity inquired. He nodded, beaming, his blue eyes twinkling under his half moon spectacles.

"Um… this is getting weirder by the moment," Albus said, stunned to see both the headmasters he was named after in one place, considering they were both dead.

"Come," Dumbledore said, "let us walk." The strange party of five started strolling around, the three teenagers trailing after the imposing figures of the two headmasters.

"I suppose you'll be wanting some answers," Snape said after a few moments.

"Yeah, that'd be a nice change," Dennis replied.

"The prophecy," Dumbledore said.

"Yes?" Al started, jumping forward a bit in eagerness. "Well, my cousin Rose thinks she's figured it out, but we're not entirely sure-"

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore said, beaming. "I believe Rose would be the daughter of Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley?"

"My aunt and uncle, yeah," Al nodded.

"How do you know all this?" Snape demanded of Dumbledore.

"You see, Severus," he replied, "some of us actually pay attention to what happens in the surrounding world after we die."

"This coming from the man who hasn't cut his beard in nearly a century," Snape muttered.

"What did Ms. Weasley theorize that the prophecy meant?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well, if you carry the blood of someone who fought in the previous war, you're destined to fight in this war," Verity spoke up. Seeing Dumbledore nod, she went on. "And the war starts again. The spill the war part is what's kind of getting us…"

"Can you help us?" Dennis asked anxiously.

"Unfortunately, you are left to realize the prophecy's true meaning on your own," Snape said.

"Damn," Ver muttered, before continuing, "the royalty line. We think it refers to my brother and me because we're Princes, and the Potters because Harry Potter is the Master of Death, so he reigns over it."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "I see Ms. Weasley inherited her mother's brains."

"So we unite against our common enemy- Drasen. And the last line entails that whatever side choose, whether you fight with the Order, with Drasen, or you stay neutral, your family will choose that side for as long as the war lasts," Verity said.

"Which reminds me," Albus said, "how long can this keep up? If we stop Drasen, who's to say she won't have a kid who'll continue her legacy? How long will our families be destined to fight? This war can't last forever!"

"Very good, Albus," Dumbledore said, "someone has to end it."

"We will," he said firmly. "We're ready, we strong enough, we can do it!"

"You're just like your father," spat Snape. "Arrogant, rushing into things when he was clearly not prepared, terrible at Occlumency, a necessary skill for someone in his position, arrogant enough to name his son after me in pity-"

"IT WASN'T PITY!" bellowed Albus. Snape's face contorted into a strange expression. Dumbledore pointedly look at his shoes, bemused. Verity and Dennis stood behind their friend. "It wasn't pity. My dad told me you were the bravest wizard he ever knew. He admires. He didn't name me after you in pity, he named me after you to honor you."

Snape's expression changed. "He said that?"

"Yeah. It was before I left for my first year at Hogwarts," Al said. "I was dead afraid of being in Slytherin. But he told me that I was named after two headmasters of Hogwarts and one was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man he ever knew."

Snape was silent for a long while, before saying, "Very well." He turned towards his cousins. "Are either of you good at Occlumency or Legilimency?"

"Verity is," Dennis said, pointing at his sister. She blushed.

"I dunno, really. I've never tried," she shrugged.

"Do either of you have a brilliance at Potions?" he pressed on. Both twins nodded. "Then you are truly my kin."

"We also have greasy hair," piped up Dennis. Dumbledore chuckled.

"That's quite enough," Snape said. A silence fell upon them. Albus, who had remained rather quiet since his outburst, took Verity's hand again, kissing it softly. A strange pained look crossed Snape's face.

"The prophecy is fulfilling itself," Dumbledore muttered.

"What do you mean?" Verity asked sharply. "Al and I are part of the prophecy? What does it say about us?"

"Ver…," Dennis said. "Princes and Potters unite… I don't think it means just in fighting."

"You mean… we're going to end up married?" Albus asked, a confused look of happiness spreading across his face.

"Yes," Snape muttered. "And the Prince bloodline will finally unite with that of Lily Evans."

"I dunno if anyone ever got the chance to tell you this," Verity said slowly to her cousin, "but you're a hero." Snape said nothing, his facial expression remaining neutral.

"How do we get back?" Dennis asked.

"It's simple," Dumbledore replied, "you close your eyes, wish to be back, and merely… let yourself have it."

"Are we in King's Cross Station?" Albus asked.

"So we are," Dumbledore chuckled. "Your father said the very same thing."

"My father?" he said. "He's been here before?" Dumbledore nodded.

"What if were to… take a train?" Dennis asked. "Where would we go?"

"On. It's the same thing I told Mr. Potter," he replied.

"On… as in to like… the afterlife? Is this sort of a place between the worlds?" Verity mused.

"Very good, Ms. Prince- Pierce," Dumbledore beamed. "You have discovered the secret of the veil."


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: J.K. Rowling still owns Harry. Thanks for all your reviews! Enjoy this chapter! Read and review please! **

Chapter 27

The three of them burst through the veil, returning to the world. They found themselves in the same room which they had left and it was still utterly empty. "Come on," Verity said. "We're not going to find Mr. Potter by standing around." She dragged the boys by the hand out of the room. Coming to their senses, they began to walk of their own volition.

"Verity," Albus said softly, "isn't this great?

"Al," she said, "we're in the Department of Mysteries, searching for your parents, who are probably being held hostage by the daughter of Voldemort. How in all of bloody hell is this great?"

"Not this," he said, gesturing towards the Hall of Prophecy that they were now crossing. "I mean… what the prophecy says? About us?"

A smile crossed her face. "Yeah," she whispered, "it's brilliant. And I can't wait." He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into him.

"This is not the time," Dennis reminded them.

"Right," Albus said, "sorry."

"Where are they?" Dennis muttered. Footsteps echoed behind them again, and they set off in a run. "Wait- why are we running from them?"

"Gee, I dunno," Al panted. "Maybe it's because they want to kill us?!"

"No, I mean," Dennis said breathlessly, "why don't we hide and them follow them very quietly from behind?" Without waiting for a response, he pulled his sister and best friend behind a shelf of books. The books began to whisper to them.

"I'm a magical book about Muggle medicine," said one, its spine decorated with the caduceus. Albus, who was closest to it, merely looked bemused. It made a strange movement, as if it were sniffing the air, before saying, "The hormone levels in the male closest to me suggest he wants to mate with the female."

Al's jaw dropped as he turned a brilliant shade of red. Dennis pointedly ignored the book and Verity merely blushed a bit before snuggling up to Albus. "You know," he whispered in her ear, "I am prepared to wait."

"Good," she replied, "because that's not happening until we get married."

"Glad you two have set that straight," Den said, "but keep it down."

A crowd of Death Eaters passed the shelf, without even suspecting that they were not alone. As soon as the room was clear, they took off again, following as quietly as possible on the Death Eaters' trail.

After what seemed to be an eternity of keeping quiet and following the masked Death Eaters, they finally found themselves in the same room as Drasen. Albus made a strange strangled sound as he spotted his parents, wands pointed at them in the back of the room with their wrists chained to the wall. "Have you seen the brats?" Drasen demanded of them.

"No," said a woman with black hair. "We heard them in the veil room, but as soon as we got there, it was empty. We've seen nothing of them."

"Just wait for them," Drasen instructed, her cold, grey eyes sweeping the room. "They'll be here. I'm not mistaken."

"That's right," Albus said, stepping forward. "You're not." Verity gaped at him, wishing deeply he hadn't just done that. Sighing heavily, she stepped forward to take her place beside him. A quick moment later, Dennis did the same.

"Ah," Drasen said coldly, "the brats are here. Aren't you missing some of your number?"

"Well," Verity said, "we're missing Scorpius because you in all your bitchiness killed him."

"As for my brother and cousin," Albus picked up, "that's for us to know and you to find out." His eyes drifted towards his mom and dad, whose faces showed an expression of hope mixed with despair.

"What do you want?" Verity asked her coldly.

"We've plenty of time to get to that," she replied, sniffing. "We have to catch up."

"Catch up on what? How my dad kicked your dad's arse twenty-two years ago?" Albus sniped.

Drasen's face contorted with anger. She raised her wand, preparing to curse him, but before she could, Harry roared, "NO!"

Thinking quickly, Verity raised her wand, pointed it at Drasen, and murmured, "_Muffliato._" Looking at Ablus, she said, "Talk! Quickly!"

"Mum, Dad," he said. "How do we get you out?"

"I dunno, son… Drasen said something about a sacrifice…," Ginny said.

"Blood!" Verity exclaimed. She transfigured a small piece of broken glass into a small knife, and before anyone else in the room could protest, she pushed the tip of the blade into her finger. "Bat Bogey her."

Dennis hastily obliged, and for the time being, Drasen was once again fighting off his brilliant Bat Bogey Hex. Verity scrambled forward towards Ginny and Harry, trying to beat the rush of Death Eaters rushing towards them. She wiped the blood on the manacles keeping them chained up. They popped open instantly, the chains falling off instantly. They both summoned their wands, pushing Verity back towards Al and Dennis. The jinx wearing off, Drasen screamed, "Where is it?"

"Okay, the quo has changed," Harry told her through gritted teeth. "How'd you know where to find us?"

"Your brother-in-law, Percy," she laughed coldly. "Minds fall beneath my skill in Legilimency." Dennis sniggered quietly at her idiocy. Verity elbowed him in the ribs to get him to shut up, but smiled slightly.

"What else did he tell you? Is my brother alive?" Ginny demanded. Her face was quickly reddening; at this rate, it'd be the same shade as her brilliant flaming red hair. Her hand quivered slightly, but she composed herself and pointed it strongly.

"Oh, yes- he's alive. But he told me it's here. I know it's here!" Drasen screamed.

"Are you even capable of talking quietly?" Verity asked, rubbing her ear.

"I'm done answering your stupid, insolent questions!" Drasen bellowed.

"Apparently not," Ver muttered.

"Where is it? Tell me now!!!" she said, a wild look coming into her eyes. She looked even more dangerous than usual, her gray eyes on fire with anger. "Don't make me ask again."

No one replied. Their unanimous silence strengthened their resolve, as all of them eyed Drasen rebelliously. "TELL ME WHERE IT IS!!"

"Never!" snarled Verity. Her blue eyes were alight with rage, her wand still pointed strongly at Drasen. Everyone in the room recoiled. No one, even Dennis and Albus, had ever seen her this angry before. "You're just as sorry and pathetic as your father, lacking enough spine to try for some remorse!" Drasen was a terrible sight to behold, yes, but Verity looked absolutely vicious at that moment.

"You think I would be scared of you, girl," Drasen laughed. Verity remained just as resolute as before, and Albus could see words forming on the tip of her tongue- whether they would be curse words or an actual curse, he didn't know. Each and every one of them was confident that they wouldn't break- they would never reveal the Elder Wand's true location to Drasen. "Now," Drasen commanded. "You will tell me where to find the Mirror of Erised."


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: Still don't own Harry… Thanks for all the reviews! Read and review please! And check out my new Harry Potter fan fic, Double Vision!**

Chapter 28

"What do you want with it?" Harry demanded. The last time he had encountered the Mirror of Erised, it had given him the Sorcerer's Stone.

"Take a guess," sneered Drasen.

"You want it, because it'll show you, finding the Elder Wand. And then, you'll know where it is," Verity said. Drasen nodded. "But I have to know- who was the pathetic bitch that was your mother?"

"Don't speak of her like that," Drasen roared. "My mother was Bellatrix Lestrange. Years before this pathetic excuse of a wizard," she said, gesturing at Harry, "defeated my father, they mated. My mother loved him… but he only did it so he was assured that he would have an heir, an heir no one would know of, except for Bellatrix and himself. He made sure she never spoke of it again. He promised her immortality."

"You are just like your father," Harry sneered. "Both born out of one-sided love, unable to understand it love- the thing that will eventually destroy both of you."

"Enough!" Drasen bellowed. "I'm going to find the Mirror of Erised and I will find the Elder Wand. And there's nothing you can do to stop me," she spat.

"You're wrong," Albus said. "We're going to stop you."

"You?" Drasen laughed hysterically. "You and what army?"

"DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY!!" was the reply. Neville Longbottom, accompanied by McGongall, Teddy Lupin, Victoire, and many other burst through the doors. Rose and James fought through the crush of people to Albus, Dennis, and Verity.

"You're still alive!" Rose squealed. "I told James to stop being such a pessimist. He said Drasen would've murdered someone by now."

"You came," Dennis said, his voice getting husky. Verity raised her eyebrows at her twin brother, sensing that something was up.

"Of course we came," Rose said, blushing furiously. "We couldn't abandon you." Throwing caution to the wind wordlessly, Dennis drew Rose to him and kissed her full on the mouth.

"Why does everyone have a girlfriend but me?" James asked, shaking his fist at the sky angrily.

"Now's not the time," Verity said, as they broke apart. "I know where Percy put the wand."

"How could you know that?" Rose asked. "What are we looking for?"

"We're looking for the same thing Drasen is," she replied. "The Mirror of Erised. Just trust me."

"Now…" James murmured, "all we need to do is find the mirror." They ran as fast as they could from the large scuffle breaking out between the Order/ D.A. and the Death Eaters. They came to a circular room filled with doors. Several of them had x's burned into them.

"Wait, wait, wait- where's Percy's office?" Dennis asked.

"Uh… this way," Albus said, leading them in the complete opposite direction. "He took me to work once, when I was about seven." They found themselves in a spacious office, occupied by a desk and matching chairs. In the corner was-

"The mirror!" Albus jumped forward and stood in front of it. He saw himself holding the wand up, smiling at himself. Mirror-Albus put the wand in his pocket, and with a start, he realized that the Elder Wand _was in his pocket_. "I-I've got it!"

"How?" James exclaimed.

"Can't explain now," Albus said, "we've got to go." The five of them burst from the office to find Harry and Ginny waiting for them.

"You've got it?" Harry asked Albus. He nodded. "Then let's go." Harry grabbed Albus, James, and Verity and Ginny grabbed Rose and Dennis. The couple turned on the spot, Disapparating with a crack.

They arrived back at the Potter house. "I'd better go send my Patronus to McGongall," Ginny said, running up the stairs two at a time.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked them all.

"Yeah, Dad, we're fine," James replied. "We're just exhausted. What time is it?"

Harry looked at the watch on his wrist. "Nearly three in the morning. Go to bed, all of you," he said. They grudgingly trudged up the stairs.

Dennis couldn't sleep. His mind was in jumbles, still reeling from the kiss he shared with Rose. He watched as the flames played around in the fireplace, his eyes staring blankly into space. "Dennis?" said a voice.

He whipped around to find himself face to face with Rose. "Oh," he said. "It's you." She sat down next to him. "We need to talk, don't we?"

"That might be a good idea, yes," she said, flashing him a small smile. He looked down at her.

"Where to start?" he mused aloud. "How about… I fancy you, Rose. I fancy you a whole lot. I'm not sure how long I have… maybe a while, but I really had no idea how to express it."

"You did a pretty good job of it back at the Department of Mysteries," she giggled.

"Yeah," he agreed. "That's because I realized that I take the future for granted. Any of us could die at any time. We're not… safe from death just because we're not of age or because those things don't happen to us. We're usually the people those things happen to."

"Well, just so you know, I fancy you, too, Dennis," Rose said.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Dennis asked, "Why'd you come down here?"

"I couldn't sleep," she replied. Then she blushed. "Plus, as I was lying in bed, I thought I heard you come down here, and I thought it'd be a good chance for us to talk."

"I couldn't sleep either," he said. "But how'd you know it was me and not James or Albus?"

"I knew it wasn't James because he sleeps like a rock," she giggled. "And I knew it wasn't Albus because if it was, he would've gotten Verity so they could come down here and snog." He laughed.

He looked down at her, and their eyes locked. He bent down and pressed his lips to hers, relishing every moment they spent together.

Meanwhile, Albus and Verity were sitting on the roof. "I can't believe you have a secret passage up to the roof in your room, Albus," Verity giggled, leaning against him happily.

"I found it when I was nine," he replied. "I come up here to think. When I was younger, I told myself that when I had a girlfriend, we'd come up here to be together. You're that girl, Verity."

She smiled at him, nearly delirious in her happiness. She kissed him fiercely, surprising him by straddling him. He responded with equal passion, his hands playing with her hair. When they finally broke off the kiss, she buried her face in the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent. "I love you, Albus," she murmured in his ear, "and I can't wait to marry you."

"I love you, too, Verity," he said, overcome with his emotion. And all was well. Naturally, that couldn't last very long.


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: Still don't own Harry. Thanks for all your reviews! Read and review please! **

Chapter 29

They returned to Hogwarts the following night, welcomed by a frazzled Professor McGonagall. "I must say, the five of you are missing most of this half of the school year," she said.

"Sorry, Professor," Rose said apologetically.

"That's quite all right Ms. Weasley," she replied. "The wizarding world is in your debt, as am I." They hurried down from her office, eager to make it to dinner.

That night Verity sat in front of the warm fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. She had been unable to fall asleep, though she had been trying valiantly for the past three hours. She buried her head in her hands and began to rock back and forth, wishing Albus was with her. She couldn't bear to go and wake him, but she felt the indescribable need to be with him. Then, as if pushed by an invisible hand, she got up and, instead of going back to her bed, she climbed the stairs to the boys' dorm. She found Al in the bed farthest to the right. Unthinkingly, she climbed into his bed, snuggling against him, and fell into a deep sleep.

Albus woke in the middle of the night from a dream, breathing raggedly and drenched in a cold sweat. He glanced at the clock on his night stand. It was quarter 'til four in the morning. Suddenly, he realized someone else was in his bed. He looked at the intruder's face and realized that it was Verity. He smiled to himself, as he watched her chest rise and fall with each breath she took. She looked so peaceful, her auburn hair still tied back in a soft ponytail. He sighed happily before gently drawing her closer to him, so she wouldn't wake up. He fell asleep peacefully.

"Bloody hell!" Albus Potter woke with such a start that he rolled off of the bed in shock and found himself face to face with his very angry best mate. "What did you two do last nigh?" Dennis stormed angrily.

"Nothing, I swear!" Albus said defensively. Their yells woke Verity, who realized where she was and started to stammer.

"I'm s-sorry," she stammered. "I d-didn't mean to. But I c-couldn't sleep and I was d-down by the fireplace in the common room, but b-before I kn-knew it, I was here and I fell sound asleep. Nothing happened, I swear."

"Fine," Dennis said grudgingly. "But you better go back to the girls' dormitory now."

"'Course," she said, looking a bit sheepish. But as her shock wore off, the old Verity came back and she whipped around to face her brother. "You will not order me around like that."

Dennis started to mumble incoherently, backing up as he sensed her anger. She continued, "Yes, Albus and I slept in the same bed and **absolutely nothing **happened. It's the only reason why I fell asleep last night. You're my brother, and I appreciate and respect your concern for me. But if your best mate and I tell you that nothing happened, then you need to get off our backs."

"You're right, Ver. I'm sorry I overreacted," he said, attempting to diffuse her, thinking of her as a bomb.

"Okay then," she said. She hugged her brother before giving Albus a quick peck and skipping off towards the girls' dorm.

"Nothing happened?" Dennis said. "Ver's a really good liar."

"No, nothing happened," affirmed Al. "I just woke up in the middle of the night and she was there."

Dennis watched the expression on his best friend's face. "You really love her, don't you?" he asked,

"Yeah," he said quietly. "Yeah, I really do."

At lunch that day, Verity kept banging her head on the table in frustration. "You ask her, you're her friend," James muttered to Rose.

"So are you," she hissed back.

"Yeah, but you're a girl," he pointed out. "Why don't you ask her, Dennis? You're her twin."

"Why doesn't Albus ask?" Dennis said. "He's the one who's swapped spit with her." This drew gales of laughter from them, which Verity thoroughly ignored.

"Fine," Albus said, swallowing his food. "Prats." He slid closer to Verity, gently wrapped an arm around her and pulling her whole body upright, keeping her head away from the table. "What's wrong?"

"This is going to drive me mental!" she exclaimed, attempting to bang her head on the table again. He gently stopped her, planting a soft kiss in her hair.

"What's going to drive you mental, Verity? And please don't bang your head anymore- this comes from a very concerned boyfriend," he said.

She smiled at him sweetly. "I'm driving myself mental trying to figure out what the prophecy means by 'spill the blood'. I mean, I'm pretty damn sure 'spill the war' means that it'll end, but how would we 'spill the blood'? I mean…" her voice trailed off as she concentrated completely on her thoughts. He waited patiently, one arm still wrapped around her waist, the other spooning soup into his mouth. Suddenly she gasped and jumped up from her seat. "Sorry, Albus, but I've got to go- I think I've finally figured something out. Bye," she said rather quickly. She kissed him quickly, as if to promise they'd snog when she was done doing… whatever she was rushing off to do. She ran off towards the giant doors, turning left as she exited the Great Hall.

He sighed, watching her go longingly before sliding back towards the others. "Well?" James said expectantly.

"She's driving herself mental about the 'spill the blood' part of the prophecy," he replied, now shoveling shepherd's pie into his mouth. "But she left because she thinks she just figured something out. I expect she's gone to the library."

"But she went left," Rose pointed out. "I was watching her as she left, and she went left. To get to the library, you'd have to turn right."

"Then maybe she's already gone mental and lost her way to the library," Dennis suggested. "I never thought I'd utter those words."

Verity returned to them just in time for Transfiguration class. "What was that all about?" Al asked as she joined them in the corridors.

"I'll tell you later," she said. He sighed heavily. "Hey," she said softly, her hands wrapping around the back of his neck. She kissed him for a few long moments, her touch still lingering on his lips long after she broke off.

He grinned at her massively. "Come on, we better get to class."

"So," Rose said in the common room that night, " are you going to tell us about your big discovery?"

"'Course," Verity replied, rummaging around in her bag. "I need to show you this." Finding what she was looking for, she pulled it out of her bag, resting it on her lap. Dennis drew in a sharp breath, for on her lap sat the sword of Godric Gryffindor.


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Don't own Harry, don't sue. Thanks for all your reviews, they really keep me going! Read and review please! **

Chapter 30

"Godric Gryffindor's sword!" Dennis gasped. "How'd you get it?"

"It was in McGonagall's office," Verity replied, grinning widely. The sword glistened in the light pouring in the windows from the slowly setting sun.

"That's why you turned left and not right!" Rose exclaimed. "But why'd you want the sword?"

"I figured out the 'spill the blood' part," she said. "It means that we have to kill Drasen the Muggle way, not with magic. Otherwise, we don't technically spill blood."

"And the sword comes into this… how?" James asked.

"You really are thick, aren't you?" Albus scoffed at him. "We can kill her with the sword."

"Exactly," she nodded. "I figured it'd be a good idea to use the sword, seeing as it has magical properties and your dad used it to destroy Horcruxes."

"So next time we face Drasen…," Al said, "we're ready for her."

"I know what you're thinking, little bro," James said suddenly. "And don't even. We are not going to pick a fight with Drasen- we've missed enough of this term already and we've put our lives in danger enough. Plus, if we do that, we sort of lose our adorable childhood innocence."

"Adorable childhood innocence?" Rose gagged. "You've been reading those romance novels again, haven't you?"

The weeks flew by and exams were looming ominously in the near future. "I can't believe how much studying time we've missed," Rose fumed.

"Honestly, Rose," Albus sighed, "you sound more and more like Aunt Hermione every day." She ignored her cousin's comment and continued reading over her notes, furiously scribbling in extra foot notes. Meanwhile, Albus and Verity were quizzing each other over Charms and History of Magic. Dennis was listening to the iPod his parents had given him for his twelfth birthday, which Verity had bewitched the work by magic while studying his Transfiguration book. James was poring over his Muggle Studies textbook.

"That's it!" James yelled, slamming it shut. "I can't study for one more minute without clawing my own damn eyes out! I need a break!"

"I've got an idea," Verity said, a cunning smile playing across her lips. "Dennis, can I see your iPod?"

"What's an iPod?" Albus asked with interest.

"It's a Muggle device that plays music. I bewitched ours so they work by magic," she said. She pointed her wand at the mp3 and muttered some unknown spell. It began to play the music as if through speakers.

"I listen to Muggle music all the time," Rose gushed.

"Then you should know this song," Verity grinned wickedly. She played around with the click wheel before finally hitting the play button. "Ms. New Booty" by Bubba Sparxxx began to play.

"I love this song!" Rose squealed. She and Verity began dancing to the music, as Albus, Dennis, and James merely stared.

"This has got to be the weirdest studying session I've even seen," James said.

"And the hottest," added Albus and Dennis.

They survived exams, Dennis gaining a whole fifteen pounds before they were through. "You are such a nervous eater," Rose said, laughing at him after he refused to eat dinner after their last exam.

"Shut up," he moaned. "Verity and Albus take the mickey out of me enough for it, I don't need you too as well."

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that," she said quickly. "it's kind of cute, Dennis." She eyed him sweetly from under her flaming red bangs.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, leaning over to kiss him.

"Ugh, not while I'm eating, please," James said.

"That's it," Verity said, throwing her fork down on her plate with a clatter. "You, James Harry Potter, are going to get a girlfriend before this term is over if it's the last thing I, or rather, you do."

"Why?" he managed to choke out, looking scared at her determination.

"Each and everyone of us is sick of you complaining about not having a girlfriend and being disgusted whenever Dennis and Rose or Al and I kiss," she ranted.

"Okay, Dennis and Rose kiss. You and Al straight up snog," he pointed out.

Blushing slightly, she said, "Not the point. You've fancied what's-her-name… er, yeah, Trianna, since Christmas break, you've not been able to take your eyes off her since. Now dig down deeper for a bigger set of balls, 'cause you'll need them if you're in Gryffindor and ask her bloody out!"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," he mumbled, hurrying off to follow her orders.

"Wow, Verity," Albus said. "That went brilliantly."

"I know," she said cheerfully. "That was all genuine, though. I'm sick of his whining, honestly. Maybe if he gets some snogging done, he won't mind so much when we do."

"Er… I hate to burst your bubble, but…," Dennis said sheepishly, "it is kind of weird for you to snog in front of us."

That night they were playing a game of Exploding Snap in Gryffindor common room, enjoying their first bout of free time in what seemed like an eternity. "Ahhhh…," Rose sighed, leaning back into the comfortable, squishy armchair she was sitting in. "I can't believe we made it through our fourth year."

"Speak for yourself," James said. "I survived my sixth." He puffed up his chest proudly.

"As a friend, can I tell you something James?" Verity asked, placing a card delicately on top of their structure.

"Yeah, 'course- anything," he said.

"Don't puff up your chest like that- you look like a blowfish," she advised. They roared with laughter; James was in too good a mood at having finished exams to be bothered by her jibe. He always loved a good laugh anyway.

Lily and Hugo trotted towards them, looking happily surrounded by friends. "Oh- Albus!" Lily called for her brother.

"Yeah, Lil'?" he asked, ruffling her hair affectionately.

"McGonagall wants to see you, Ver, Dennis, James, and Rosie in her office immediately," she said. Then she giggled. "Are you in trouble?"

"I don't think so, Lily," James said. "Thanks for the message." Rose quickly hugged her younger brother before they headed for McGonagall's office.

"What d'you reckon she wants?" Rose asked once no one was within earshot.

"I dunno. Do we ever?" Dennis replied.

They found McGonagall waiting for them behind her desk, a grim expression fixed upon her face. "I'm sorry to inform you," she said, sounding forlorn, "that Professor Longbottom has been kidnapped."


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: Still don't own Harry… I'm sorry to say this, but I get the feeling this fic is coming to a close… I don't think I can stretch this out for more than ten more chapters. If you want a sequel, review and tell me so and I'll come up with something if it's in popular enough of a demand! Thanks for all your reviews! Read and review please!**

Chapter 31

"What?" gasped Albus. "Why would Drasen kidnap Professor Longbottom?"

"I believe because her reasoning is bait for your father, not you. It is quite widely known that Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter were school mates, not to mention good friends," McGonagall replied. "Your father has already informed me that he, Mrs. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Mrs. Weasley will be going after Drasen. I must ask you to remain here- all of you."

"What?" exclaimed James. "We've done so much this year! We've faced Drasen three times since Christmas break! How can you think that we're going to stay here and not go join the fight?"

McGonagall heaved a deep sigh. "I am sorry, Mr. Potter. But I am leaving to join the fight as well. I am afraid that if one more parent hears of the school being left in the hands of Professor Trelawny, I will be voted out by the school board," she said sadly. "I'm leaving the five of you in charge of Hogwarts while I am away."

"Us?" asked Verity. "Why?"

"Because you have, in Mr. Potter's words," said McGonagall peering at them over her glasses, "done so much this year. You are the only ones I would entrust the lives of the hundreds of students here to."

"Hundreds?" squeaked Rose nervously.

Gulping audibly, James said, "But no pressure, right?"

"This is unbelievable," Verity raved to Dennis. She and Dennis had been assigned to stay in McGonagall's office while James, Rose, and Albus patrolled the corridors. Verity and Albus had asked to stay in the office together, but James refused outright, saying something about them snogging. "How are we supposed to watch over the whole school with just five of us and no teacher help?"

"I dunno, Ver, but McGonagall obviously trusts us to leave about a thousand lives in our extremely capable hands," her twin replied. He was sitting in McGonagall's chair. "Hey- why don't we ask the portraits for help?" he asked, gesturing towards all the headmasters' portraits above him.

"Brilliant!" she said, scrambling over towards him. She addressed the portraits, saying, "Who here has at least one other portrait placed somewhere in the school?" Several of the portraits raised their hands, Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape among them. "Would you terribly mind checking your other portraits for anything suspicious?"

"Not at all," Dumbledore said graciously, smiling at her beneath his half-moon spectacles. "Have you cracked the rest of the prophecy yet, Ms. Prince-Pierce?"

"I think so," she replied, biting her lip nervously. "Thanks," she said as the people disappeared, hurrying off to go check their other portraits for her.

"Calm down, sis," Dennis said as she sat on the desk. "I mean, all we're doing is watching the school, for two days at the most. What could go wrong?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" she asked, eyeing him exasperatedly. "I dunno, Den… I've just got a creepy feeling about this."  
"That changes everything then," he said gravely.

She cocked her head sideways at him and asked, "How so?"

He grimaced. "We're in some deep shit now."

Albus was scoping out the dungeons when a silver swan swished in front of him. "The grounds are clear. I alerted Hagrid to McGonagall's departure and I'm returning to the castle," the swan said in Rose's voice.

"Good," he murmured to himself. The dungeons were clear. "_Expecto Patronum!_" he cried, sending a silver mustang galloping towards McGonagall's office with the message that the dungeons were clear. He sighed, running a hand wearily through his black hair and began to climb the steps, heading for the Entrance Hall.

James was inspecting the third floor when Dennis' silver eagle Patronus flapped in front of him unexpectedly. "Just checking your location, James. Verity's being paranoid, which probably means we should be too," said the eagle in Den's voice.

"Right," murmured James. "Makes me feel a whole lot better. _Expecto Patronum!_" A wolf burst from the end of his wand, with the message to relay his location to the twins. He continued walking, his wand at the ready. For he knew all to well that when Verity had her feelings, everyone had a right to be scared.

"Well?" Verity asked, when all the portraits' occupants had returned to their frames in McGonagall's office.

"All seems to be well," Albus Dumbledore reported.

"Yes," squeaked Professor Dippet. "I did, however, notice two or three students walking around the school, wands at the ready. I assume they are your sentries?"

"Yeah, that's them," Dennis grinned.

"Their system of communication is excellent," Dumbledore winked at the twins. They grinned at each other.

"Harry gave us the idea," Verity told him. "I'm going to call them back. It's getting late- we can sleep in here."

Albus was just about to check the fourth floor boys' bathrooms when a silvery mare galloped towards him on ghostly hooves. "Come back to McGonagall's office," the mare said in Verity's voice, "we can sleep up here. And Albus? I can't wait to see you." Grinning to himself, Albus set off at a run towards the headmistress's office, unable to keep his excitement at seeing Verity again from bubbling over.

At the stairs, he nearly ran into both James and Rose, who were also running towards the office in their eagerness to rest again. It was also slightly disturbing to be wandering around the halls at night, alone. Albus burst through the doors, throwing himself at Verity and kissing her fiercely. Rose had a much milder reaction, hugging Dennis tightly and planting a soft kiss on his lips. James merely looked lonely. Grinning, he looked up at the portraits of the past headmasters of Hogwarts. "They're rather embarrassing, aren't they?" he asked. Several of the headmasters nodded; Snape pretended to hurl.

Albus finally broke off from the kiss, still holding her to him tightly. He gently rocked her back and forth. "Albus," she laughed, "we've only been apart for a few hours?"

"I know," he said. "But every minute I live just makes me love you even more." Without warning, a silver stag burst into the room. "That's my dad's Patronus."

The stag opened its mouth and said in Harry's voice, "Drasen's not here. It's a trap! She's headed for Hogwarts!"


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: Still don't own Harry… Thanks for all your reviews! As I said before, this fic is coming to an end. Speak up and leave a review if you want a sequel! Read and review please. **

Chapter 32

"Oh, shit!" Dennis gaped at the fading Patronus. "That's why you had a bad feeling about this, Verity!" She nodded, focusing on the ring that was on her finger.

"I've got to go get the sword," she said, breaking into a run as she left the office.

"Verity, wait!" bellowed Albus. He turned back to the others, saying, "She can't go alone! She needs someone to go with her!" They stood around, watching him with interest. "Well?"

"I think we all know who should be the one to run after her, little bro," James told him softly. "You."

Without waiting for everyone else to agree, he turned on his heel and ran after her.

"VERITY! VERITY!" he bellowed as he ran through the corridors, his school cloak billowing behind him like a cape. No reply came. He began to panic, his heart racing faster and faster with every step he took, adrenaline pumping into his system at an unbelievable rate. He turned a sharp corner and promptly fell over an object that was left lying on the floor. He turned to see what had tripped him and let out a moan. "Verity…" he heard himself as if he was seeing through someone else's eyes. He sounded like a wounded animal. He feared that she was dead for a moment, before her chest rose as she inhaled slowly. He gathered her into his arms and began running towards the Gryffindor Tower. As he ran, he noticed a warm, sticky substance that seemed to be coming from Verity- blood. He moaned again.

Her blue eyes fluttered open briefly. "Al-bus," she croaked.

"Verity!" he said, climbing through the portrait hole now. He laid her gently on the couch in the common room, leaning over her. "What happened?"

"I was shot," she moaned.

"Shot?" he asked, his black eyebrows furrowing together in confusion.

"By a gun… it's a metal Muggle sort of wand that they use to kill each other. Drasen must've bought one and brought it to Hogwarts," she explained in a groan. She pulled up her robes with her weak and shaking hand to reveal blood pouring from a gaping wound in her leg. "Get the sword- it's in my messenger bag."

"But shouldn't I take you to the Hospital Wing first?" he asked.

She shook her head furiously. "Go!" she commanded him. He tried to run up the stairs to the girls' dormitory, but the stairs melted into a ramp and he slid down it, arms flailing wildly. Grumbling swear words, he climbed up the ramp and quickly located Verity's bed- it was the one with Chudley Cannons paraphernalia all over it. Spending too many Christmases around Ron Weasley had instilled a certain obsession with the team in her. He quickly found her messenger back dumped on it and tried to unzip it, but she must've bewitched it.

The zipper formed a mouth as the bewitched bag said, "You're not Verity Prince-Pierce."

"No," Albus said. "I'm Albus Potter."

"Well, you'll still have to answer a question about Verity before I can open for you," the bag said.

"All right," he sighed.

"What's the reason Ver lives and breathes each day?" the bag said.

"God?" he guessed.

"No," the bag scoffed. "You only have two more chances."

"Damn it," he muttered. "Oxygen?"

"Guess again."

"Okay, okay, okay… damn it, I need help with this!" he said, slamming his fist into her mattress in frustration.

"Well, it's quite obvious, isn't it?" asked a voice. He whirled around to face the ghost of Scorpius.

"What do you know?" he demanded.

"She told me about how she tried to commit suicide before third year," Scorpius said quietly. "Think, Albus… why did she choose to continue to live?"

"I dunno… because Dennis convinced her to?" he asked, pulling at his black hair exasperatedly.

"No," Scorpius replied, shaking his ghostly head with slight impatience. "Try again. Think, Al- who does she live for?"

Albus thought and thought and thought and then- he drew in a deep breath. Confident of his answer this time, he turned towards the bag and said, "The reason Ver lives and breathes each day is me, Albus Potter."

The bag's zipper mouth twisted into a sick sort of smile. "Congratulations," it said. It opened itself, the hilt of the sword glittering in the dorm room's little light.

"She's always loved you," Scorpius told him simply, a sad sort of grin plastered on his face. "I never stood a chance."

Albus rushed down the stairs once more, the sword swinging from the belt of his pants. "Verity?" he said softly, kneeling by the couch on which she lay.

"Yeah?" she murmured weakly. He said nothing, just pressing a firm kiss to her lips. "Go, Albus. Kill Drasen."

"No," he said, shaking his head firmly. "I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing first."

"Albus," she groaned.

"No, Verity," he said, resolute. "I'm getting you to proper care first. Then I can take care of Drasen."

"Is she going to be all right?" he anxiously asked Madam Humphrey.

"Yes, she should be fine," Madam Humphrey told him, much to his great relief. "I've taken out the bullet, which is what caused the wound, and sealed it up with magic. I gave her a potion for the pain, which is what's put her to sleep. She'll be fine." She eyed the sword swinging from his belt curiously, but said nothing. She had seen some curious things during all the years she had work at Hogwarts, and this would not be the first.

Al burst into McGonagall's office to find Dennis, James, and Rose formulating an evacuation plan. "We can use the different secret entrances to the school, as well as the passage Harry told us was in the Room of Requirement," Dennis said, his quill magically drawing up the plan on a piece of parchment.

"She's been shot," Al said quietly. Dennis looked as though he may faint and Rose turned rather pale herself.

"Shot?" James echoed. Albus realized his brother didn't know what it meant.

"A gun is a metal sort of Muggle wand that they use to shoot people. It sends a bullet out a tremendous speed, which punctures the tissue. Guns can even kill," Rose explained to her cousin faintly. Dennis had collapsed into McGonagall's chair, his head buried in his hands.

"Is she going to be all right?" he managed to croak out.

"Yeah, Madam Humphrey's taking care of her. I've got the sword," Albus replied, stating the obvious. A thought suddenly struck him, as he said, "And I think I know exactly where Drasen is."


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: Still don't own Harry! Thanks for all your reviews and speak up in a review if you want a sequel please! So far, I think two people have asked for one, but I'd like at least seven people to say so. Read and review please! **

Chapter 33

Verity Pierce had woken a mere fifteen minutes after Albus had left. She sat up, a determined, steely look in her eyes. She threw off the blanket and quietly crept out of the hospital wing. Madam Humphrey had indeed healed her well and she felt no pain from her wound. She set off at a run for the McGonagall's office.

As soon as she burst through the doors, she was extremely disappointed to find that it was totally empty. "Dumbledore? Where'd they go?" she consulted the portrait.

"I believe Mr. Potter believes you should be in bed under the watchful eye of Madam Humphrey," replied the portrait, a smiling twinkle in his blue eyes. "But I do believe he said something about the Chamber of Secrets."

"Thanks so much, Professor Dumbledore," she said. Without another word, she turned on her heel and headed for Moaning Myrtle' bathroom.

"How are we going to get in now, genius boy?" James demanded of his little brother. The five of them were standing in front of the sink, staring at the small snake that they knew was the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. "None of us speak Parseltongue." Albus sighed, running a hand through his jet black hair and getting the feeling that Verity would have an answer for James.

"I've got a solution," said a voice from behind them quietly. Verity was standing behind them, looking a little pale but otherwise perfectly healthy, despite her gunshot wound.

"What are you doing here?" Albus said, rushing towards her. "I left you in the Hospital Wing under Madam Humphrey's watchful eyes."

"Yeah, well, Madam Humphrey's 'watchful eyes' fell asleep," she said dryly. "Besides, I wasn't about to miss out on an adventure, gunshot wound or not. Plus, it seems you've all gotten yourselves stuck." She stepped closer to the sink. A ghost floated beside her. "Hello, Myrtle."

"Hello," Myrtle said sadly. "Took pity on me have you?"

"No, Myrtle, we came to visit you," Rose said eagerly. "And the chamber. But none of us is a Parselmouth."

"Well, I suppose you could get a ghost to speak Parseltongue, if they did in life. I'd offer myself, but I'm **ordinary**. Poor old ordinary, fat, ugly Moaning Myrtle…," she wailed, sailing off to splash into a toilet, most likely.

"But what ghost do we know that spoke Parseltongue in life?" Dennis said, banging his head on the sink.

"I know one," Ver said quietly. "Scor?"

"Yeah, Verity?" said Scorpius, gliding through wall of the bathroom to their left. Seeing Albus, James, and Dennis, he said, "What are you all doing here? It's a girls' bathroom."

"You're a fine one to talk," retorted Dennis. "Coming to see my sister in the bathroom."

"Can you open the Chamber of Secrets for us, Scorpius? Please?" Verity asked, a pleading note creeping into her voice.

"'Course," he said.

"Wait- you were a Parselmouth?" Albus said, gaping at his ghostly friend.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I told Verity because she was my best friend." He turned towards the small snake and uttered a horrible strangled hissing sort of noise. And the Chamber of Secrets was opened once more.

"This ridiculous!" Rose exclaimed, brushing bits of dead snake skin off of her robes. "You're sure the basilisk is dead?"

"Yes, Rose," James said exasperatedly. "My dad killed it when he was twelve and your mom and dad took the fangs from its skull when they were seventeen. I'm quite sure it's dead."

"Chill out, Rose," Dennis said reassuringly to his girlfriend. "I'll protect you from the big, bad basilisk," he said stupidly. She giggled.

"Oh please," Verity said, rolling her blue eyes at her twin. "You screamed and ran to the bathroom to hide when you saw a garden snake."

Albus sniggered. "Keep it down though," he amended. "I think Drasen's here."

"Damn right you are," said a cold voice. Drasen emerged from the darkness, a frightening gleam of triumph in her eyes.

"You," Albus snarled, drawing the sword from his belt like medieval knight.

"Give me the wand," she said.

Albus laughed mirthlessly. "You really think after all we've been through that I'm going to just give you the Elder Wand? After all this? You are as thick as you look, bitch," he sneered.

"Trust me," she drawled. "Give me the wand, or you'll pay the dear price."

"Who are you going to threaten to kill this time Drasen? My dad? My mum? Verity? James? Dennis? You've already killed Scorpius!" he screamed. "You've got no one else to use as bait."

"That's where you're wrong," she said coldly. "Tell me the location of the Elder Wand, and don't make me ask again."

"What are we going to do? Oh, what the hell are we going to do?" panicked Hermione. She was pacing back and forth in the Potters' living room, wearing a path into the carpet.

"Calm down, 'Mione," Ron said. "I'm sure the kids are fine."

"McGonagall left them in charge of the school, Ronald!" she shrieked. "Drasen could be torturing and murdering them this very moment!"

"'Mione!" Harry yelled, grabbing her firmly by the shoulders and shaking sense into her. "Okay, here's what we're going to do."

"Yes?" Ginny said, jumping up eagerly.

"We're going to go to Hogwarts," Harry said firmly. "We're going to find our kids **and **Drasen. We're going to defend our kids like the parents we are."

"I'M NEVER GOING TO TELL YOU WHERE THE ELDER WAND IS! What part of that don't you, in your tiny little brain, understand?" Albus demanded of Drasen. His bellows echoed eerily in the chamber, as if there were about ten of Al instead of just one.

"Then you'll pay the price," Drasen said wickedly. She turned around, pointing her wand at a small figure and crying, "_Avada Kedavra!_"

"LILY!!!"


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: Don't own Harry… why else would I be writing fanfiction? Thanks for all your reviews, and I'm sorry, but a character dies in this chapter! Well, technically the character's already dead, you just find out in this chapter. Don't hurt me please! cowers in fear from distraught and angry readers This is probably the chapter before the chapter before the last. Enjoy. Read and review please! **

Chapter 34

"NO!" James and Albus' distraught screams echoed through the Chamber of Secrets, the body of their dead sister in full view now. Verity bravely stepped forward and took the body, gathering the corpse of the twelve year old girl into her arms. Ver laid the body in front of the brothers, who dropped to their knees, their tears falling from their eyes quickly. Drasen was the only person with a dry eye, the five others reduced to a bawling sort of mass.

"You bitch," Rose spoke up, raising her eyes to face Drasen. She stood up, her anger overtaking her, which was unusual for Rose, who was usually the most composed one of the group. She grabbed the sword from her cousin's belt.

"Rose," Albus said quietly, trying to grab his cousin's attention. Unfortunately, he failed miserably.

Rose made to stab Drasen with the knife, but Drasen raised her wand, crying, "_Crucio!_" She fell to the floor, dropping the sword with a clatter, writhing in agony, her face contorted with the severity of her pain.

Something seemed to snap inside Albus. "ENOUGH!" he bellowed, grabbing the sword from where Rose had dropped it.

As if sensing his next move, Verity pointed her wand a Drasen and said, "_Expelliarmus!_" Caught unawares because she had been focusing on Albus' movements, Drasen's wand flew out of her hands and into the darkness of the Chamber. Fluidly, Albus drew Verity towards him and wrapped her hands around the hilt of sword, doing the same with his. She knew what he intended to do; and together they plunged the sword into Drasen's chest.

Albus sat atop the Astronomy Tower later that night, blood still staining the front of his school robes. Tears were streaming down his face. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione had arrived just a minute too late. They had fussed over them, but upon seeing Lily's dead body, Harry and Ginny broke down, their sobs filling the chamber, echoing all around. "Albus?" Verity's voice broke the silence as she sat next to him, her whole weight leaning into his side. He wrapped his arm around her, tears still falling at an alarming rate. In a sudden switch, he buried his face in her neck, his tears now pouring down her skin. "Shh," she said comfortingly, rubbing his back as well, "I know what you're thinking Albus. And don't think it. There's no way you could've known she'd kill Lily."

"But she warned me!" he sobbed, looking up at her, his green eyes filled with anguish. "She warned me and I didn't think of Lily!"

"It's not your fault, Al," Verity said, looking into his green eyes. "You can't blame yourself for your sister's death, Albus, it's not your fault."

"But I –" he protested.

"No buts," she told him firmly. "It's not your fault; there's no way you could've known. Plus, you were doing the right thing by refusing to give her the wand, Al. Think of how many more people would die if you gave it to her."

"I guess you're right," he said. "But it still hurts."

She sighed, tears streaming from her blue eyes now. "I know, Albus. I know."

After the funeral, Albus and James holed themselves up in James's room, silently sitting and mourning for their little sister. Shortly after, Verity came in and hauled Albus out of the room. "Albus, I know you're still mourning Lily, and I respect that, I really do," she said. "But you've eventually got to move on with your life, you do know that, don't you?"

"No, I don't know that," he said quietly.

"Listen to me," she said, forcing him to look her in the eye. "Lily wouldn't have wanted you to be miserable for the rest of your life, would she? That's not the kind of girl she was." He took one look at her and burst into tears once more.

"Verity," he sobbed. "I miss her so much! What would I do without you?"

A week later, an owl burst through the window and landed with a thump on the table, crash landing into Dennis's bowl of oatmeal. "Ugh," he said, pushing the bowl away as the owl fluttered out. "I don't particularly care for owl." The owl fluttered over towards Verity.

"It's for me," she said. The twins had been staying with the Potters since the school year ended, but they all knew it couldn't last for very long. She read the letter, her blue eyes growing wider with every passing second.

"What is it, Ver?" James asked, spooning scrambled eggs into his mouth.

"It's from Mr. Malfoy," she said, as if she were still in shock. "He's said that he'd suddenly remembered the death of our parents and he'd be happy to take us in- not to adopt us, just to allow us to live with him during the summers."

"Really?" Albus said, trying to sound happy, but looking disappointed. This did not go unnoticed by Verity.

"Well, Dennis what do you think?" she asked her twin, who was eating from a new bowl of oatmeal.

"I think," he said thoughtfully, oatmeal dribbling down his chin, "that it's up to you."

"Well, I'd hate to contradict Draco now," Harry said sarcastically, "but Ginny and I have been talking… and we'd love to have you two stay with us. Dennis can share with Albus and Verity, you can take Lily's old room." Albus looked at her hopefully, his stomach twisting into an uncomfortable knot of uncertainty.

"I want… I want…," she said, carefully considering her options, "I want to stay here. With you all. Mr. Malfoy's offer is very kind, but I'd rather be here, surrounded by people I love."

"Good choice, sis," Dennis said, clapping her on the back, "I knew that's what you'd choose."

"But," Verity said. "I couldn't take Lily's old room; I'll take the guest bedroom if you don't mind."

"That's fine," Ginny beamed at her. "We're just glad that you're going to be around so much. You're like family now. Besides, I doubt Draco would make sure you went to Teddy and Victoire's wedding next month."

"They're getting married!" squealed Rose gleefully. "Oh, that's wonderful!"

"Yeah, isn't it?" Harry grinned. "Teddy sent the letter late last night."

Verity was settling into her new room, putting up some finishing touches. A knock came at the door, and she said, "Come in!" Dennis strode into her room, flopping down onto her bed lazily.

"How's redecorating?" he asked.

"Fine," she said, clapping her hands. "I'm done!"

"Good," he said. "Because there's someone who wants to see you." He left, leaving his twin very confused in his wake. Albus came through the door, a deliriously happy grin plastered on his face.

"Hey," she said. "I haven't seen that grin in a while." Saying nothing, he drew her into a fierce kiss, his hands finding her hips and pressing her against him. Adrenaline pumped into his system as they snogged for the first time since Lily's death. When he finally broke away, they were both breathless.

"I love you, Verity Pierce," he panted.

"I love you too, Albus Potter," she said happily. "I missed you, you know."

"Where'd I go?"

"After Lily died… you weren't yourself," she replied.

"You're right," he said, rummaging around in his pocket for something. He got down on one knee in front of her, holding what looked to be a ring box in his hand.

"What are you doing?" Verity asked softly, gaping at him.

He grinned and replied, "Moving on."


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: Still don't own Harry… Thanks for all your reviews! This is the second to last chapter, I'm pretty sure. I'll give my verdict on a sequel in the author's note for chapter 36. Enjoy and read and review please! **

Chapter 35

"Verity… according to the prophecy, we're going to end up married," Al said quietly. He popped open the ring box, reveling a goblin made ring, that looked like branches intertwined. "It's not an engagement ring, I mean, we're only fourteen… that'd be a bit much… but it's more like a promise ring, you know?" He slipped it onto her ring finger on her left hand. "Ver…? Verity?"

"Yeah, I'm here," she said faintly, sitting down on her bed and staring at the ring intensely. "Albus… that's… that's so…. that's so… sweet."

"Yeah?" he asked, grinning at her unexpectedly. "I was worried you wouldn't."

"Albus," she said, shaking her head, "how could not like anything you gave me?"

Later that day, they were playing Quidditch on their broomsticks over a deserted field. Dennis, Verity, and Hugo played against Rose, James, and Albus. Albus pretty much carried his team on his back, seeing as neither Rose or James was any good at the sport. "Good game," Verity said, sweating profusely when they finally landed, the game finished. Her team had won, but not by much; Albus was an excellent player.

"You too," he panted. "I almost couldn't tell you were a girl from how well you played." He realized how stupid he had been to say that as soon as he saw the grin wiped from her face.

"What?" she demanded.

"I didn't mean-" he said, choking on his own words.

"Didn't mean to date me?" she spat, anger flaming into her blue eyes.

"Oi," Dennis said, approaching them, feeling the tension. "What's going on here?"

"Stay out of it, Dennis," Verity growled. "Albus here was just being prat."

"Will you just listen to me?" Albus roared.

"No!" she bellowed. "I'm done!" She turned her back, stomping off without another word.

"What," James demanded, "was that all about?"

"Bloody hell," Albus muttered, storming off towards the house.

"I think," Rose said slowly, "they just had their first fight."

Albus and Verity refused to speak to each other during dinner, resulting in an awkward affair for them all. "Can someone pass the peas please?" Verity asked. Albus made to hand the bowl to her, but she chocked on her chicken and said, "Never mind."

"So," Ron said, who was over for a visit, "how was your day?"

Dennis found Albus throwing his old school textbooks around in the corner of their room, muttering swear words under his breath. "You can't still be mad, can you?" Dennis demanded.

"I'm not mad at her," Albus said, slamming a book down onto his desk. "I'm mad at myself. I was so stupid; what I said was tactless and _stupid_!" He slumped down miserably onto his bed. "I yelled at her."

"What was that?" Dennis asked, sitting down on his own bed looking considerably more cheerful.

"I yelled at her," Al said quietly. "I can't believe it- I love her so much, but I still yelled at her."

"You were angry, Albus," Den said. "That's natural; that doesn't mean you don't love her. I yell at her tons- but she's still my sister and I still love her to death."

"I dunno, Dennis… I've never fought with her before, not since we started dating. What do I do?" Albus said.

"The same bloody thing you did when you were just friends," he replied. "You go apologize."

Albus was running down the hall towards Verity's room when he ran straight into Verity. He was knocked to the ground, the wind knocked out of him. "Here," she said, speaking to him for the first time since she stormed off the field. She offered him her hand, which he took. She hauled him to his feet.

"Look, I know you're mad at me, Ver, I was just looking for you to apologize," he said.

"Me too," she smiled at him. "I'm sorry, Al- I overreacted. I really did. I guess it just… hit a nerve when you said I didn't look like a girl, especially since you're dating me."

"No, I should be apologizing," he said. "I shouldn't have said that, it was really stupid and I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"I yelled too, I'm really, really sorry," she said. "But do I really not look like a girl when I play Quidditch?"

"No, you look totally girly," he said, gesturing wildly. She looked at him doubtfully. "A really, really athletic girl."

"That's more like it," she said. She kissed him softly on the lips. Grinning at her wickedly, he pulled her into his now empty room- he felt like a good snog was in order.

"Have you ever felt like," James asked at breakfast the next morning, "a great weight has been lifted off of your shoulders?"

"How big of a weight are we talking about here?" Harry asked his son.

"Like… you just defeated an evil force that had been haunting you and saved the wizarding world in the process. You know," he replied, "normal, everyday stuff."

Harry grinned, looking at Ginny. "All the time, son. All the time."

"It'd be nice to think," Harry said, toasting his glass of firewhiskey with Hermione's the next night, as they were over for a visit, "that all the evil and Dark wizards and witches in the world have gone, wouldn't it?"

"Of course it'd be nice to think that, you prat," Ron said. "But it's not likely to ever be true, now is it?"

"Ron's right you know," Hermione said.

"Did you hear that, mate?" Ron said, gaping at his wife. "Can I get that in writing? I never though I'd hear her utter those words." The three of them laughed; just the old trio together again- Ginny was watching Hugo fly on his brand new broomstick outside.

"He's right though," Hermione hiccupped. "For every Dark wizard or witch defeated, there'll be another to take their place. It'll never be completely gone, Harry. But we can always keep it at bay."


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: Still don't own Harry… Thanks for all your reviews, and yes- this is the final chapter:, ( It's been a lot of fun writing this fic and I'm really going to miss it! But good news- SEQUEL!!!!! It'll probably be up in a few days (I may like to take a small break) and I'm not yet sure of the title, but the summary will say that it's the sequel to Blood Legacy. Thanks to all my loyal readers! Enjoy and final chapter and read and review please! **

Chapter 36

While Harry, Ron, and Hermione giggle drunkenly about the 'old days', Albus, Verity, Dennis, Rose, and James were sitting in the attic. "So big bro," said Albus, who had his arms wrapped around Verity. "We never found out- how'd it go when you asked Trianna out."

"Oh… that?" James said, looking a bit crestfallen. "She turned me down flat on my face. Said something about dating a Quidditch player."

"Oh, James," Rose said softly, "I'm so sorry."

James laughed. "No worries, eh, Rosie? It's fine- Trianna was superficial anyway. Besides, I'll be in my seventh year next year."

"So?" Dennis said.

"I'll be 'irresistible'," he said. They roared with laughter, the walls shaking slightly with the sheer force of it.

"I'm glad Verity and I are living here," Dennis said, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye. "Otherwise, I'd miss you after you graduated, James."

"Sweet," James grinned, closing his eyes lazily.

"Hey," Dennis said suddenly. "What's that?" He was pointing to the goblin made ring on his sister's ring finger on her left hand, his mouth wide open with shock. "You two aren't…?"

"Of course we're not engaged, you dolt," Al said. "We're only fourteen, I mean _honestly_."

"It's a promise ring type thing," Ver told her brother.

"Oh," he said, looking relieved. "I thought…"

"You think?" Ver teased. He rolled his blue eyes at her, but couldn't help but grinning at her widely.

"Did you ever tell James and Rose about what else the prophecy meant?" he asked his sister.

"Oh, no," she said. "I forgot. You know the line about royalty uniting?"

"Yeah, 'course," Rose said.

"Well… it doesn't mean just in battle…," she said, a wide grin spreading across her face at her own words.

"You mean… you two are going to end up married?" James asked. Albus nodded and laughed as his brother's mouth dropped open. "So I don't even have a girlfriend, but my little bro already knows who he's going to marry? What have I done to deserve this punishment?"

"Maybe," Rose said thoughtfully, "it's punishment for the time you spiked my dad's oatmeal with about thirty spiders." This brought gales of laughter from them at the memory.

"I was twelve," James protested. "Besides, everyone laughed."

"My dad still won't talk about it," she said. "He hid in his room for about a fortnight, carrying a giant Muggle fly swatter about."

Later that evening around midnight, the five of them had separated. James was now teaching Hugo the finer points of Quidditch, Rose and Dennis were in Rose's room, and Verity and Albus were on the roof. "Remind why we climbed all the way up to the roof again?" she asked, leaning against him, her head resting on his shoulder.

"So we could be alone? Without anyone disturbing us?" he laughed.

"Oh, right," she grinned. "Why would we want that, again?" He grinned and said nothing, merely kissed her softly on the lips. She smiled at him, biting her lip and said, "Oh, yeah. Now I remember." The arms wrapped around her waist squeezed her tightly, drawing her into a position in which she was sitting on his lap. She winced a bit and said, "Hey, watch the scar, would you?"

"Oh, sorry," he gasped. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine," she smiled.

"I almost forgot about your scar, Ver," he whispered in her ear. "I hated Drasen for giving you that."

"Didn't you hate her already?" Verity giggled.

"Well, yeah," he admitted. "But I hated her even more for putting that scar in between us." He kissed her cheek.

A comfortable silence fell upon them for a few moments. Verity was the one that broke it, saying, "I wonder…"

"What're you thinking in that brilliant head of yours?" he inquired, twirling a lock of her auburn hair around his finger.

"I'm thinking, hold on…," she said, concentrating. "Wait a moment… if Drasen's gone, shouldn't the curse she put on my scar be gone as well?"

"I dunno," he said. "Is it still even there?"

"Well, your dad still has his scar and Voldemort's been gone for years," she said. "Yeah, I've still got mine." She turned to face him and rolled up her shirt just enough so he could see the lightning bolt shaped scar on her torso. He sighed. "And I mean it's a bit sore to the touch, even though it's relatively old, but that, I suppose, is normal."

"I wonder if I could touch it…" he said, reaching out his finger as if to, but drawing back at the last moment. "No, never mind."

"It's fine, Albus," she coaxed. "Go on- try!" He hesitantly reached out, his finger hovering just a hair away from it, scared. "It's okay, Albus. I love you."

"I love you too," he choked out. He plucked up his Gryffindor courage and touched the scar. When nothing happened, he traced his finger over it. "It's gone," he whispered.

"Yeah, it is," she replied, a giddy grin spreading across her face. "It's gone."

"Drasen can't keep us apart any longer," he said, starting to smile as well. "She no longer has that power over us."

"Albus, don't you see?" she laughed. "She never had that power over us. We still loved each other, even though you couldn't touch my scar."

"You're right, Verity," he said. "She only would've had that power if…"

"If we had broken up and let her have that power over us," she whispered. "Our fight yesterday was stupid, wasn't it?"

"You have to ask? I should've been more considerate," he said.

"And I overreacted," Verity added.

"But that's not important now," he whispered. He drew her into a fierce kiss and realized that his dream was coming true. He was kissing the girl of his dreams, the love of his life, and she was kissing him back. He was holding her in his arms like he always dreamed of doing and he could ever touch her scar now. Everything felt right. She was all his, even her scar.


End file.
